Heather Murray, a junior at the
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, is one of four exemplary students
recognized by TSCPA and awarded a King Foundation scholarship for 2015. The
King Foundation scholars receive a three-year scholarship totaling $25,000. The
fund was established by Calvin and Jean King to assist accounting students in
achieving their college and career goals.
When Murray received the call from TSCPA, she was struggling with
financial concerns. “My laptop had just died
and my car had just broken down, and I still hadn’t heard from UTC about my financial
aid from the school year,” she recalls.
An accounting major with a minor in criminal justice, the
ambitious Murray is a Brock Scholar in UTC’s Honors College, a premier program
that was mentioned in the New York Times
in August 2015.
“Knowing that I’m going to
graduate school,” she says, “I try to save as much as I can for upcoming exams
and future schooling. The call from [TSCPA President/CEO] Brad Floyd was the
last thing I expected. The King Scholarship not only means that I will be able
to graduate with my MAcc. without debt, but also means that I have a support
system of CPAs across Tennessee who care about accounting students and their
goals to continue our wonderful profession.”
Murray was born in Florida but grew up in Dickson, Tenn., with
her twin brother, Fox. “My family worked together to help support my father’s
business as an auctioneer,” she says. “My mother, who does bookkeeping and
claims adjusting for insurance companies, is the person who showed me the
importance of being passionate about what I’m doing.”
Her ambition shows no signs of slowing down, as Murray has
a finite plan for the future.
“I will graduate in May 2017,” she says, “and then I will
enroll in the one-year Master’s of Accountancy program at UTC. After attaining
my MAcc. and my CPA license, I will apply to serve in the Peace Corps, where I
hope to spend two years serving in a developing community as an NGO advisor,
helping people realize their dreams and grow their communities. Then I hope to
come back to Tennessee and attend law school. Eventually, I want to start a
non-profit dedicated to advocating for public education in Tennessee,
particularly focusing on empowering students from low-income backgrounds to
break the cycle of poverty through education.”
She sees accounting as the best avenue to accomplish these
dreams “because of its versatility and the window it provides into the inner
workings of all parts of businesses, governments and NGOs.”
Murray first became interested in accounting as a teenager while
witnessing her family struggle through the Great Recession. She says, “The
economic implications of the actions of businesses and Congress on individuals
revealed to me much about how an individual develops and maintains stability.
As personal finance affects an individual’s relationships, self-worth and
ability to build a future for themselves and their family, accounting is
necessary for every other facet of an organization to run efficiently.”
She is not all business all the time, however, saving time
for her favorite hobbies: volunteering, traveling, trying new foods, reading
great books, learning new instruments, and spending time outdoors hiking and
fishing.
