Stephanie Murphy, originally from metro Atlanta, graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 2018 with a B.S. in History and a minor in Russian, which included a semester at Kazakh National University in Almaty. She served as a communication strategy officer in the Marine Corps in Okinawa, Japan, and Manila, Philippines. In 2023, she participated in the Fulbright program as an English Teaching Assistant at West Kazakhstan Medical University in Aktobe and recently traveled to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Keen to expand her knowledge of the Caucasus and Eastern Europe alongside her passion for Central Asia, she aims for a career in international development or with the State Department, viewing the CERES program as a valuable means to acquire essential skills for these goals.