I’ve been swimming competitively since I was five so it only seemed natural to continue swimming when college began since I’ve always enjoyed it. For me, as many others on the team, it provides an escape both physically and mentally from the stresses that are common at Rose. Throughout my first two years of high school I was primarily a sprint freestyler until my coach decided to try me in backstroke (since he wasn’t having much luck anywhere else). That fateful race saw me weave in the lane, take a couple of terrible turns, and run into the lane line and still finish extremely well. Since then I’ve swam primarily backstroke along with some freestyle. This being my junior year, I will have one year in the new facility which will be the best pool that we swim in all year excluding the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis. It will be nice to have that one year in our own pool, but sure makes me jealous of all those who will get to spend much more time there.
Kent Murphy knows his role for the Rose-Hulman men's basketball team. The 6'8" center is called upon to rebound, defend, and make the layups that he often gets on the interior. And although he's not the most spectacular player on the team, he has been one of the most effective of late, and it's not going unnoticed in the ICAC.
Murphy has rallied from a slow start to compile some pretty impressive stats so far this season. He is the Engineers' third-leading scorer, averaging 11.4 points, and snatches 6.2 rebounds a game as well.
"He's one of the league's most dominant inside players and causes people problems with his size, strength, and understanding of the game," Shaw praised. With that description, it's almost a crime not to call Murphy the "Shaq of the ICAC."
Murphy has found a different niche for himself on this year's team, after spending most of last season as the team's sixth man and averaging 6.2 points a game.
"I'm getting more playing time this year," noted Murphy. "It's my job to get rebounds, get the ball, and score, not to create plays."
Renee Schwecke- Commendable Civil
Since my transfer to Rose-Hulman last fall, as a second-time sophomore, I guess you could say I’ve kept myself busy. By the middle of winter quarter last year, seven of my friends and I brought the first sorority to Rose. Our four months of hard work has definitely paid off. Chi Omega is now 41 members strong, with the 27 original charter members still leading the way. Since our founding, I have served as the Social Chairman for the Colony, the first Vice President of the Chapter, and will be moving to the position of Personnel Chairman in the Spring. With all the extra work involved in setting up a new chapter, I have definitely improved my time management skills and learned that no one is perfect
After last year’s accomplishments, I was sure that I had made my mark at Rose, and would finally have some free time on my hands. That was until two seniors and Prof. D. confronted me about starting a Habitat for Humanity Chapter. How could I pass that up? I didn’t think anything could be as hectic as what I went through with starting Chi Omega. Did I mention that the two other students were seniors? It took a while for me to realize that I was soon to be the only one left to head the Chapter. I then started recruiting a few underclassmen to follow in the foot steps, to ensure Habitat will live on.
Why Are you a Civil at Rose?
As a high school senior looking at colleges, I knew I wanted a school that offered a degree program in architecture or civil engineering. More importantly, however, I hoped to find a school where I felt comfortable. Instead of a big school, I wanted something smaller. Instead of a concrete jungle, I was looking for green grass and squirrels. I found it all here at Rose.
On the day I visited Rose-Hulman, I was still undecided as to where I would be in the fall. I had been offered admission to three other engineering schools, had seen a few of their campuses, and wasn’t exactly pleased with what I saw. When I came here, however, I was greeted by friendly people, allowed to park in the circle drive(which made me feel very important), and given an informative tour around a campus I liked. If I had to pick the one influence that finalized my decision to attend Rose, it would be that day and the welcome that was extended to me.
I still feel this way about our school. Granted, the work is difficult and often stressful, but as civil engineers, I don’t think we could have found a finer place to further our education.
Being the son of a Civil Engineer and surveyor has not always been an easy thing. I have watched and helped my father work over the years and only now am I beginning to understand what he was doing. I have been helping him survey for as long as I can remember and now I realize why I spent all of those countless hours being the target man. But he did not push me to be a Civil Engineer, I followed my father because I chose to.
It is not always easy following in my father’s footsteps. He always wants to know how well I am doing and if there is anything he can do to help me. He wants to make sure I learn everything he learned. He likes to brag about some of his college professors that essentially wrote the book on some of the subjects that I will have to take. Only now do I feel comfortable asking my father math questions because when I use to ask him questions in junior high school, he would use symbols and ideas that I would not learn for years.
There are some very nice returns to being the son of a Civil Engineer. He knows what I am doing so I can always ask him questions about things. My father is a good resource when I am researching engineering subjects because he either has the information I need or knows where to get it. He uses his experience in engineering to show why I need to study certain things and why they are done a certain way. Carrying on the family tradition and being a Civil Engineer has its ups and downs, but the positives outweigh the negatives.
All my life I’ve been building (engineering) structures. From Legos to Construx, I’ve built just about everything I could think of. I believe that had a big influence on why I chose to become a civil engineer. This major seems to be a joke among other majors here, because they think it is the easiest path through Rose. Well, I’ve talked to several civils, and they work hard. I suppose it could be that we civils like our major, whereas the rest of the students here might not. I believe everything at Rose is a challenge. That’s one of the reasons I chose to attend school here. Another was the fact that when students leave Rose their knowledge is beyond all other graduating students is a big influence on possible incoming freshmen. When I heard that my classes would be about 25-30 students in size, opposed to 150-200 at other schools, Rose had locked me in. Then, when I found out that the civil department had only a few professors, which gives me the chance to get to know them and vice versa, my decision was confirmed. I prefer an one on one situation, and I feel that I’ll learn more that way. I guess all I can say is that being a civil engineer at Rose, actually enjoying my major, is a great feeling.