Who is Rohan Murphy?

On October 6th, the 8th and 9th graders were invited to a special event in the gymnasium. They got to see a motivational speaker named Rohan Murphy, who could inspire many kids by speaking to them and demonstrating his physical abilities despite having no legs. I was also fortunate to meet him after the event during my 2nd-period gym class. Who is Rohan Murphy, and how did he end up at our school?

Rohan Murphy was born on December 22nd, 1983, in Queens. He lost his legs at birth, and due to this, before ninth grade, he was unable to participate in sports. In ninth grade, though, Rohan Murphy joined the East Islip wrestling team after training all summer for it with coach Ron Croteau. While he did lose his first few matches, Mr. Murphy entirely dedicated himself to wrestling, becoming one of the most decorated wrestlers in East Islip history.

Mr. Murphy went to college at Penn State University, where he continued his wrestling career. During this time, he started to compete in Paralympic weightlifting events. During one of these events, in May 2006 in Busan, South Korea, Mr. Murphy won a bronze medal in his category by lifting 281.1 pounds, more than any other American Paralympian. Nike noticed this and featured him in an ad called “No Excuses,” encouraging people to make a workout plan and stick to it.

Mr. Murphy is an inspirational speaker, traveling to schools around the country and motivating kids to believe that they can do whatever they set their mind to, no matter what hurdles they face. At North, Mr. Murphy had the same mission, speaking to bleachers full of 8th and 9th graders and inspiring them. Mr. Murphy gave us hope that if we believe in ourselves, no matter what our current states are, we can do it.