In this episode, we speak with Kyle Murphy, a Shepparton native and track-and-field student-athlete currently studying and competing for Harvard University in Boston.
Listen in as Kyle discusses his career as a track-and-field student-athlete and how it gave him the opportunity to study at Harvard courtesy of the university’s need-based financial aid, his takeaways from his first two years as a Harvard student, and his plans for the future both in and outside of athletics.
Key Highlights
● [02:33] An introduction to Kyle Murphy and his track-and-field career
● [08:37] Kyle’s goal in sport
● [12:06] How Kyle feels about COVID-19 taking away a season
● [14:15] Sacrifices that Kyle had to make over the years as a student-athlete
● [16:15] Where Kyle developed his competitive side
● [19:43] The difference between first and second place in track-and-field
● [20:53] Kyle’s worst injuries
● [22:28] Doubts about getting into Harvard as a Shepparton native
● [27:33] Competitive coaching in Shepparton schools versus Harvard
● [30:08] Nutritional requirements for a student-athlete and managing time
● [32:56] The typical goal of a Harvard athlete
● [33:50] Kyle’s love for his sport
● [38:14] Getting into a flow state when making jumps
● [38:50] Was Harvard how Kyle expected it to be?
● [40:03] Lessons learned from studying fellow students at Harvard
● [41:20] What Kyle is studying at Harvard and his career prospects
● [43:18] Kyle’s passion for photography
● [46:40] Who locally inspires Kyle?
Powerful Quotes by Kyle
● The higher you go in a sport, the more it requires your time to remain competitive.
● The fact that Harvard has need-based financial aid, people can leave their sport if they want and they’re still a regular student. That means that anyone who is in a sport is there for the love of it for the most part, which I think is an amazing thing.
● To perform at your best, you need to be able to stop thinking about a lot of things and just let your body do what the training has taught it to do, and things will just happen.
