This week, meet Elizabethtown College senior digital media production major Layla Murphy. A student from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, Murphy is heavily involved in the campus community as a member in several clubs and employed at the Study Abroad office.
Murphy is a member of E-motion, Etown’s dance club. This semester, she is a part of four different dances, including a BTS remix and the senior dance.
As a digital media production major, Murphy is also involved with ECTV. While they’ve held more than one role while in the club, they’re currently the talent, the person behind the screen, for Etown News’ weather segment.
Another organization in which Murphy participates is WWEC, the college’s student-run radio station. She DJs on Thursday nights for two hours, during which you can catch her themed shows. Previous themes have included movie soundtracks and holidays. This Thursday, Feb. 13, Murphy plans to theme their show for Valentine’s Day.
When she isn’t in classes or active elsewhere on campus, Murphy enjoys watching movies and TV shows, especially in the horror or psychological thriller genres. Their favorites come from directors Bong Joon Ho, known for directing “Parasite” in 2019, and Jordan Peele, who worked on “Get Out” in 2017.
Murphy’s love of movies and TV translates into her future plans, as she hopes to someday work behind the scenes on a television or film set. A production assistant position is their ideal choice, though they said they’re also interested in working a camera.
Throughout her time at Etown, Murphy has had opportunities for hands-on experience with digital media production right from the start, a feature of the college she particularly likes. However, they also said she wished the college provided a film minor or a greater variety of sets to work on beyond a news setting.
“It’s nice to have a small population,” she said, describing the small class sizes and close-knit campus community. “But that means there’s less of everything.”
However, Murphy has still enjoyed all of the elective courses she’s taken. In particular, she took several art history courses, though she had minimal experience with art history prior to her time at Etown.
“I didn’t realize how much I liked art history until I took a class,” they said. “I really like to learn, so being able to pick certain classes that interest me has been nice.”
Throughout her four years of college, Murphy said that their favorite moments were spent while studying abroad.
“I love study abroad trips,” she said. “You learn a lot, you do a lot and there’s so many different kinds of ways to study abroad.”
Murphy has been abroad twice, once in England and then in Ireland.
“It was great,” she said. “I got really close with people on the trips.”
In fact, Murphy plans to study abroad for a third time, with a return to Ireland in May.
Though they’ve had some great experiences, Murphy expressed some doubt about majoring in the School of Arts and Humanities at Etown.
“It’s crazy to see how much has changed,” she said. “They’re mostly negative changes, like the faculty cuts. I’m worried about the future of the college.”
