LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Mechale Murphy was nominated by an anonymous student.

"Mrs. Murphy changed my life," her nominator said. "We first met when I was in kindergarten, and she was my teacher. I got bullied a little, and she told me that I should still treat people kindly, even if they aren't kind to me. I didn't know what she meant by that, but I did anyway."

"We met again when I was in the fifth grade," the nominator continued. "She was my vice principal. I was only at her school for two weeks, but I talked to her a couple times and told her how I was still treating people kind even though they were mean to me. I don't know if she remembers telling me this, but she said, 'Kill them with kindness, treat people the way you want to be treated, look at the glass as half full instead of half empty, and always put yourself in someone's shoes before you judge them.'"

"Those phrases she said to me made me the person I am today," the nominator continued. "They helped me whenever I felt like I was going to fail out of school, when I was getting bullied, and when I saw others getting bullied. They also helped me through life. I've tried to live my life seeing the bright side, and Ms. Murphy made me care more about the world and the environment we grow up in."

"I've volunteered every year since 7th grade wherever I could because I knew that I was blessed, and one of the things Ms. Murphy taught me in kindergarten was to share and do for others. I was also taught a little bit of Spanish and eventually became fluent for a couple years."

"If anyone has made me into the caring, compassionate person with a will to help others without expecting something in return, it was Mrs. Murphy," the nominator concluded. "She wasn't only my favorite teacher since kindergarten - she was my role model and my hero. I never got the chance to thank her for contributing to my true calling in life, which is helping others. This is my way of thanking her."