Selected by the Rotary Club of Senoia for its RYLA program, Jack Murphy is learning what it means to use his voice, live his faith and make the most of his influence on others.
Each year, the Rotary Club of Senoia selects a rising high school senior for the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards program, better known as RYLA. This year, that opportunity went to Starr's Mill senior Jack Murphy.
On paper, it's easy to understand why.
Jack excels in the classroom, ranking among the top five percent of his senior class. He's a running back and has been captain on the Starr's Mill football team. He leads Bible studies with friends, works with middle school students through WyldLife and has already begun thinking seriously about a future in ministry.
But spend the conversation simply checking off accomplishments and you'd miss what makes Jack such an impressive young man.
If you meet Jack today, you'd probably have no idea there was a time when speaking in front of people didn't come naturally to him. Even striking up a conversation with someone he didn't know could be uncomfortable.
That's changed.
Somewhere along the way, Jack began looking at those interactions differently. He sees every person's life as a story. In some, he'll have the opportunity to be several chapters. In others, he may only be a line, or perhaps even a single word. Whatever his place in someone else's story, Jack wants it to be a positive one.
He wants to be a light.That simple idea helps explain a lot about the young man he's becoming.
Stepping Forward Jack had an opportunity to put some of that into practice when he attended RYLA, where rising seniors from across Georgia spend a week developing leadership skills and putting those skills into action.
During the week, Jack received what the camp calls its “Nike Just Do It Award,” recognizing his willingness to be among the first to jump into activities, take initiative and put himself out there.
For someone who once wasn't comfortable speaking up, the recognition says quite a bit about how far he's come.
Jack doesn't necessarily see that change as something he accomplished alone. He believes the Holy Spirit has given him the courage to speak, and as his faith has grown, so has his willingness to step forward.
That willingness isn't reserved for a leadership camp.
On some nights, 15 to 20 friends gather for a Bible study Jack started in his neighborhood. These aren't adults listening to a teenager preach at them. They're his friends, young people growing up in the same world he is and navigating many of the same questions, pressures and experiences. Jack is simply willing to open the door, start the conversation and share what he believes.
He does something similar through WyldLife, where he helps lead middle school students and shares devotions with kids just a few years behind him.
For Jack, those younger students represent another opportunity to influence someone else's story.
A Platform to Lead Then there's football.Jack plays running back for Starr's Mill, and being named a team captain has given him another kind of leadership opportunity. Football matters to him, but so does what he does with the platform that comes with it.
His teammates see how he works. They see how he responds when things go well and when they don't. They see how he carries himself on the field and away from it. Jack recognizes that leadership isn't limited to what he says. There's also something being communicated through the way he lives.
What's refreshing is that none of this seems disconnected from being a teenager today.
Jack understands the world his generation lives in because he's living in it too. Social media is part of that world, so he's created a place where he can share his thoughts about faith. Football is part of his world, so the locker room and the field become places where he can lead. His friends are part of his world, so he invites them into his home.
His faith isn't something he's waiting until adulthood to figure out how to use.
He's learning to use what he has, where he
Whatever Comes Next Jack Murphy is still writing the early chapters of his own. There will be college decisions, football games, opportunities, setbacks and plenty of figuring things out along the way. But what's interesting about Jack is how much he's already thinking about the stories being written around him.
Be bold enough to speak. Be willing to serve. Stand for what you believe. And whenever possible, leave a little light behind.
For a young man still at the beginning of his own story, Jack seems to have figured out something worth carrying into whatever chapter comes next.is, right now.