New Miss Troy welcomes students to the Village
Miss Troy University’s newest crown-bearer said she is living proof it is never too late to chase a dream, even if everyone else started chasing it earlier.
Gracen Murphy is a junior nursing major from Prattville, Alabama. She’s also the new Miss Troy University, and she doesn’t exactly have a pageant background.
Growing up, her first major passion was the piano, which she started playing in the fifth grade and eventually played for her talent portion of the Miss Troy University pageant. A few years later, in junior high school, she joined the majorettes, which she did all the way up until her sophomore year of college, when her classes took the forefront.
“I actually twirled in Sound of the South here, my freshman year, and loved it, but wasn't quite sure I could handle that with nursing school,” Murphy said. “I think that was a pretty fair assumption, at least for the first two semesters.”
She wasn’t a participant in a single pageant her whole time growing up, until her senior year of high school when she won Distinguished Young Woman (DYW) of Autauga County. The previous year she was involved with the DYW program, but wasn’t allowed to compete until her senior year.
With a record of 1-0, she came to college looking for something else to fulfill her in the same way DYW did.
“I really just felt like a much better version of myself after that program and wanted to experience that again and wasn't quite sure how to, because it's something only open to senior girls,” Murphy said. “I was trying to find a way to get involved in something like that again, and the opportunity for Miss Troy University just kind of presented itself my freshman year, and so I competed, loved it, had so much fun and decided to come back again but really dig and work for it some more.”
She did not win her freshman year, but even Jeter never batted 1.000, so her sophomore year she had every intention of trying again.
However, Miss Troy University 2025 happened much sooner in the academic year than it did in 2024. This caught her off guard, and she didn’t feel prepared enough to compete, so she took a year to prepare a little extra for this year.
Her hard work paid off because now she gets to claim the crown and the title of Miss Troy University 2026.
“It's been so fun so far,” Murphy said. “I've gotten to see so many different aspects of student life and campus organizations, and I've only been doing this for a few weeks, so I'm excited to see what other doors that this role opens and what other people I get to meet.”
Winning two out of the three pageants she’s ever competed in may make it seem like it was a walk in the park for her, but she said the opposite. To win Miss Troy University, Murphy said she started focusing on growing every aspect of her life.
“I really started especially digging in more of the athleticism of it with the fitness competition,” Murphy said. “I started taking up running, which I love now, started using the campus rec a little bit more.
“I really just started focusing on what I was eating and taking care of myself. Not in the sense that I felt like I had to look a certain way, but I wanted to feel a certain way and take care of my body, because also working in healthcare, I see so much of what happens when you don't.”
Her love for health doesn’t stop at being a nursing major and working out. It’s also the heart of her community service, “The Village,” which focuses on educating her community about the importance of womens’ health. She said she feels like it’s a topic often neglected in the health care world, and it’s a field she hopes to build a career in post-graduation.
“I really just see a lot of gaps that still need to be filled in the way that womens' health is handled,” Murphy said. “It’s under researched, and there have been studies done that prove [women are] less likely to be listened to and more likely to be passed off as dramatic.”
Her love of health care plays a large role in her life in and out of school, but it’s been a part of her life since before college was even a thought. She grew up seeing what being uneducated or neglected can mean for someone’s health, and she’s made it her goal to prevent that as much as possible.
“My dad is a paramedic, and I've heard all of his crazy stories he's come home with,” Murphy said. “As a kid, they were really just stories, but now that I'm working in healthcare, I see so much of it, and I see so many people at the end of their lives that just are sick in ways that maybe could have been prevented.
“Ultimately, everyone's life comes to an end, and as sad as that is, I don't think your life has to be miserable.”
Now that she’s been crowned, she has a better chance than ever to make a difference in the areas that matter to her and build a “Village” that understands, supports and promotes womens’ health.
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