{"id":51936,"date":"2023-07-21T07:48:38","date_gmt":"2023-07-21T11:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/?p=51936"},"modified":"2025-10-22T10:05:34","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T14:05:34","slug":"opening-inner-doors-bliss-murphy-came-out-of-her-shell-during-a-busy-freshman-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/news\/2023\/07\/opening-inner-doors-bliss-murphy-came-out-of-her-shell-during-a-busy-freshman-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening inner doors: Bliss Murphy came out of her shell during a busy freshman year"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Rising

Rising sophomore Bliss Murphy, majoring in environmental science, has been working with turtles and other species this summer as a Chattanooga Zoo volunteer. Photo by Angela Foster.<\/p><\/div>\n

Before Bliss Murphy enrolled as a freshman at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, she considered herself something of an introvert.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never really liked to try new things because they caused me a little bit of anxiety,\u201d Murphy said.<\/p>\n

Since starting at UTC in fall semester 2022, that has changed. Dramatically.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went on MocSync after I was told about it and just checked all the events,\u201d said Murphy, now a rising sophomore majoring in environmental science with a concentration in biology. \u201cI thought, \u2018Maybe there\u2019s something new; maybe something I haven\u2019t tried before. Or maybe they\u2019ve got free food and it sounds like a great time to meet people.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It was.<\/p>\n

Murphy\u2019s freshman year, along with the usual load of classes, was filled to the brim. During the academic year, she was a member or involved with 18 different on-campus groups or organizations, including the Center for Women and Gender Equity, the Wildlife and Zoology Club, the Ecological Decisions for a Global Environment (EDGE), Healing Through Harmony music therapy group and Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor (URaCE).<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Click here to learn more about UTC’s Environmental Science program<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Sometimes, she just hung out on Chamberlain Field with other students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI made so many friends,\u201d said Murphy, who graduated from East Hamilton High School. \u201cA lot of the time I get, \u2018Hey, I saw you at another event. You\u2019re everywhere.\u2019 I\u2019ve heard that a lot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to think of myself as a really reserved, introverted person until I actually was given the opportunity for a lot of things in my interests and an environment I felt comfortable trying new things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re introverted, nervous, or just plain scared, Murphy recommended the plunge-right-in method to make the most of your freshman year at UTC. Doing so has been critically important to her as a first-generation student, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFind the group that you have a special interest in first. Look at their social media or check MocSync and see when their events are and attend those. Try to get connected with as many people as you can. Reach out. And, at least in my experience, people have reached out to me and just started conversations with me when I was a little too shy to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Want to learn more about UTC’s registered student organizations? Click here for the directory<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

In what she said may be the most important decision she made, Murphy joined the Arts and Sciences Residential Learning College in Decosimo Apartments for first-year students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really helped having built-in study buddies and having those connections with similar interests and career paths,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Bliss

Bliss Murphy<\/p><\/div>\n

Especially interested in reptiles and amphibians, Murphy is a volunteer at the Chattanooga Zoo this summer, working with turtles and hellbenders\u2014the largest salamanders in North America\u2014as well as giant anteaters and other species. She hopes to make a career that involves animals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to explore the outdoors and see our native wildlife,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Dr. Bradley Reynolds, senior lecturer in the UTC Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science, said Murphy is an example of someone who has taken advantage of the opportunities at UTC and thrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s heard me say it before: Take advantage of every opportunity. Do absolutely, positively everything you can to build experience, to build your skill set and advance yourself as a scholar and as a practitioner,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s how you get employed, and that\u2019s how you set yourself apart from everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Murphy\u2014named after her mother\u2019s best friend, \u201cone of the coolest people she had ever met\u201d\u2014is on the autism spectrum, but you wouldn\u2019t know it by chatting with her. Conversation comes easily, and she makes confident eye contact. The one tell might be the squeeze ball she continually swaps back and forth between her hands as she talks.<\/p>\n

Throughout her life, being on the autism spectrum has meant some teasing and bullying, she said, but that\u2019s not the case at UTC.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone that I\u2019ve met has been extremely friendly and welcoming and accepting of who I am. If you\u2019re different, they don\u2019t judge you for that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized, \u2018Wow, I\u2019m actually a really outgoing person when I\u2019m given the resources and opportunity.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Click here<\/strong><\/a> for more details about the Environmental Science degree at UTC and how to apply<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bliss Murphy\u2019s freshman year, along with the usual load of classes, was filled to the brim. During the academic year, she was a member or involved with 18 different on-campus groups or organizations, including the Center for Women and Gender Equity, the Wildlife and Zoology Club, the Ecological Decisions for a Global Environment (EDGE), Healing Through Harmony music therapy group and Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavor (URaCE).<\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1105,"featured_media":51942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_slider":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_featurette":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,70,123865,126226,61,10232,122313,7712,48007,661,123696],"tags":[122950,72914,70414,8320,122952,122953,48302,122954,122951],"class_list":{"0":"post-51936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-academics","8":"category-biology-geology-and-environmental-science","9":"category-center-for-student-leadership-engagement-and-community","10":"category-college-of-arts-sciences","11":"category-community","12":"category-disability-resource-center","13":"category-experiential-learning","14":"category-faculty-and-staff","15":"category-research-academics","16":"category-students","17":"category-urace","18":"tag-bliss-murphy","19":"tag-bradley-reynolds","20":"tag-center-for-women-and-gender-equity","21":"tag-chattanooga-zoo","22":"tag-ecological-decisions-for-a-global-environment","23":"tag-healing-through-harmony","24":"tag-office-of-undergraduate-research-and-creative-endeavor","25":"tag-residential-learning-college","26":"tag-wildlife-and-zoology-club","27":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nOpening inner doors: Bliss Murphy came out of her shell during a busy freshman year | UTC News Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bliss Murphy\u2019s freshman year, along with the usual load of classes, was filled to the brim. 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