In honor of Women's History Month, St. Elizabeth's students have been learning about, celebrating, and paying tribute to notable women throughout history. Since we have a notable woman leading our school each and every day, eighth graders, Tessa Reiser and Marin Delp, sat down with our Head of School, Adriana Murphy, to share with you Adriana's story, some obstacles she faced, and wisdom she is imparting to all of us this Women's History Month.

An Interview with Adriana Murphy
by Tessa Reiser and Marin Delp

Ms. Adriana Murphy is our Head of School, but there is much to learn about why she wanted to work in education as well as the adversity she faced to become the educator and leader we all know today. 

Ms. Murphy has Nicaraguan, Chinese, Irish, and German heritage, but she said, “I identify most with my Nicaraguan and Irish roots.” As a kid, Ms. Murphy spent most of her time in Maryland, but every summer she would travel to Nicaragua to visit her mom’s side of the family that lived there. Ms. Murphy’s grandmother had to leave Nicaragua because there were safety issues resulting from the war. So, Ms. Murphy’s mom was raised by her grandparents, later to move to the United States when she was 16.

Ms. Murphy is the oldest of four children. Her parents had her and her sister, then got into a divorce. Her dad remarried and had two sons - Ms. Murphy’s younger half brothers. 

Ms. Murphy’s favorite subject in school was social studies because she said, “I loved learning about other cultures, countries, and history.” Her favorite teacher was her 7th and 8th grade social studies teacher, Ms. Ravenscroft. “She was smart and held us to high standards,” she said. “She made us think. She was also one of the first teachers that made me think I was smart.” Ms. Murphy's school life was difficult, saying “I often felt like I had to work harder than everyone else to get B’s.”

Ms. Murphy said there were two reasons why she wanted to get into education. One, because of her mother. “When my mom came to this country, she didn’t speak English…” she said “...she had to try so much harder than everyone else to get just as far. Education was her ticket.” She also mentions that the teachers in her life completely changed the way she viewed herself and made her life what it is today. “I wanted to pay that forward," she added. 

Something many in our community don’t know is that Ms. Murphy didn’t always have the title of Head of School. She has been a teacher for 22 years. She's taught courses including Religion, 7th Grade Social Studies, Angelic Trouble-making, and she created a course called Ethics that she teaches now to SES 8th graders. But she became a principal to create a larger level of change stating, “I wanted to make a difference not only in kids' lives, but in the teachers' and family’s lives.”

Despite Ms. Murphy being a passionate educator, she wasn’t first in line to become a principal. She faced many obstacles and prejudice. She put a lot of care into what schools she applied to, knowing that some didn’t want a gay, Latinx, non-partnered woman as their head.

When asked the question: "What is the most important lesson you have learned?" Ms. Murphy responded with a meaningful answer. She said that the most impactful thing is to always maintain your integrity. Ms. Murphy strongly believes that the way you treat people and carry yourself matters. “It is fine to change your mind on specific issues, but who you are fundamentally shouldn’t waver.” She talks about how power can sometimes make people lose sight of themselves and others, saying that “some people begin to treat people differently because they become successful.”

When I asked Ms. Murphy what superpower she would want she said, “I think it would be to give everyone the ability to truly see one another with their hearts.” She believes that that would make the world a significantly better place. Also, keep an eye out, because Adriana Murphy is going to be on Shark Tank with the first stay-at-room-temperature-even-after-being-heated-in-the-microwave(™) container.

Ms. Murphy reads the same book every summer, Teacher & Child: A Book for Parents and Teachers by Haim Ginott. She reads it because it is a reminder to be gentle with one another. She also reads the epilogue to the teachers at St. E’s every year, which is a beautiful summary of her perspective on education. 

Dear Teacher, 

I am a survivor of a concentration camp. My eyes saw what no man should witness. Gas chambers built by learned engineers. Children poisoned by educated physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses. Women and babies shot and burned by high school and college graduates. So I am suspicious of education. My request is: help your students become human. 

This is an interview, so of course we had to ask the most original question ever. What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? Ms. Murphy’s answer was simple, yet powerful. She said, "Be yourself." She mentions that when she has ever felt disappointed, and has been thinking about all the ways she could have done better or things she should have said, she needed to just be authentic. Ms. Murphy said “we were put on the Earth for a purpose; there must have been a reason. So just accept and be yourself, flaws and all.”

Although we know Ms. Murphy as an educator, she wasn’t always interested in a career in education. As a kid, she wanted to be an architect or a famous basketball player. She also wanted to work with people in hospice. 

Ms. Murphy is a busy woman, with little free time, but she still finds time to relax. She said, “I love to read, and I go for walks and hikes. I mean I do live in Colorado. I also have a hammock chair that I sit in, listen to music and get some sun.” She mentions that in order to do her job well, she has to do an amazing job of taking care of herself. “I thought it was a badge of honor, and it meant that I was doing a good job for this school, but it is not and I have to take better care of myself.”

We asked Ms. Murphy what advice she would give her younger self and what advice she would give a young person. She said she would tell herself to just not be scared. But her answer for someone else is more complicated. She talks about two major things. One being, showing up. Whether that's for your family, your friends, school, or anything else. She firmly believes that “showing up is 90% of it.” The next part is to try. “There are so many things that we don’t get because we were to afraid to try.” She said that it's ok to fail, because it's better than thinking it's too hard and not worth chasing. We give a lot of power away and it's important to remember how much power we have. We have to use that power wisely and daily, because if we give it away, we are not empowering anything.” 

She closed our interview by saying, “I am just super grateful to be at this school. I am very grateful to my mother, grandmother, and great grandmother. I stand on their shoulders. I am proud of them, and I am proud of myself. And I am proud of whatever kids are going to come next.”