University of North Carolina Athletics
I'm A Tar Heel: Jack Murray
March 1, 2017 | Men's Tennis
To All the Past, Present and Future Tar Heels,
Competing for the University of North Carolina has been, without a doubt, the greatest experience of my life. The gratitude that I have for the fans, donors, and everyone in the Chapel Hill community cannot be put into words. I would like to thank all of the coaches, athletic training staff, professors and members of the Athletic Department who have taken the greatest care of me and all of the student-athletes at UNC. Without all of their hard work, dedication and contributions, I would not have been able to compete for and thrive at the greatest university in the world, and I would not be the person I am today.
I have learned so much since arriving in Chapel Hill as a freshman only four years ago. When I first got to UNC, I was incredibly shy and unsure of myself. I knew very few people, and had no chance to return home on the weekends. All of this combined made my first few weeks incredibly difficult, and I began to question whether I had made the right decision coming to a school so far from home. However, during that period when I was really struggling to acclimate to my new environment, I was surrounded by a team that could not have made more of an effort to accept me, and a pair of coaches that were phenomenal, doing everything they could to make me feel at home once I arrived on campus.
The biggest realization I have had while attending UNC is how fortunate I am to be a student-athlete at this school. Coach Paul and Coach Phillips have emphasized this point to me since my first semester here, and the more time I spend at UNC the more I understood how true those words really are. In my junior year I was tasked with the responsibility of being in charge of the Carolina Outreach program for the our team. The Outreach program encompasses our community service and giving back to others, which I never truly understood the importance of until being part of this program. It was through the Outreach program I had the opportunity to meet the most amazing people who dedicated their lives to helping others. No one embodied this more than the Macholl family.
The Macholls were the family that Team Impact paired with us, and we were blessed to sign their son Mickey to our men's tennis team. Mick, as well as his entire family, taught me so much. Mr. and Mrs. Macholl have such a pure love for their family as well as everyone else that is part of their lives. Also, their undying positivity every single day, regardless of how bad the situations were, put things into a whole new perspective for me. It made me realize how much more I could do in my own life, and since then I have strived to be the very best friend, teammate, student, and brother I can for everyone in my life.
Besides growing as a person, being a member of the North Carolina men's tennis team has provided me experiences beyond anything I could ever imagine. My most memorable college experience was during my junior year when our team captured the ITA National Collegiate Indoor Title. Besides the fact we had just won the first national title in our program's history, what made it so memorable was that our run to the title truly embodied what it means to be a team. Winning is always an amazing feeling, but doing it with a team that I am truly blessed to be a part of, with coaches who could not have deserved it more … that is an indescribable feeling.
During my orientation, wristbands were given to the incoming freshmen with three words: “The Carolina Way”. At the time, I did not understand what this truly meant. But with each passing day, I better understood the meaning of the phrase, and I wear the wristband as a reminder of what this school has done for me. Words cannot do justice to the immense gratitude I have for everyone who has helped me since I first stepped on on campus, especially my family, coaches and teammates, whose everlasting support gave me a reason to keep going when things got hard. Lastly, I want to thank Mick Macholl: I love you, buddy. Not a day goes by when I don't think about you, and every morning I wake up and strive to put a smile on your face.
With all my heart thank you so much and GO HEELS!
Class of 2017
Players Mentioned
