As a student, Leah (Ziamandanis) Murphy took advantage of her experiences in the classroom, while enjoying the benefits of extracurricular opportunities outside of it. During her time in South Colonie School District, she was class president for three years and competed for the district athletically. The 2003 Colonie High grad, graduated from Union College in 2007 with a math degree and a year later she complete a masters in teaching. In 2018, she received her master of science in analytics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is currently principal storage specialist, global healthcare and life sciences at Amazon Web Services, where she is responsible for the day-to-day process of assisting Amazon business clients with understanding and implementing how to navigate what’s better known as “cloud computing.”
Q: Why mathematics? How did you become drawn to that subject while at South Colonie?
A: I remember back in second grade, in Mr. K’s class at Veeder, he worked with me and a few other students on extra math topics in the back of the room. He encouraged me that I was “good at math,” a concept I started to believe and carried with me into middle and high school. Over the years, I realized that mathematics is a structured way of thinking about the world and approaching problems. It’s a universal guide on how to reason towards and quantify solutions. The math teachers I had over the years at Colonie, Mrs. Pollay, Mrs. Balkwell, Mr. Chapski, Mrs. Comi and Mr. Schiano all helped shape my academic journey towards college and career, pushing my personal development and passion for learning. At Amazon, we have a Leadership Principle called “Learn and Be Curious.” I developed that skill over the years at Colonie.
Q: Does anything stand out specifically when you knew what your passion would be?
In retrospect, there were signals of my passion while at Colonie, always wanting to be around people and getting involved in a variety of projects. I was voted “Most Involved” my senior year. Opportunities on the Colonie Youth Bureau, Curriculum Review Board, and Girls’ State gave me exposure to collaborating on teams for a shared goal. Working in life sciences and technology today brings together people and complex projects, my two favorite things. Dr. Perry was my grade-level principal at Colonie and always encouraged me to think big and get involved to make an impact.
Q: How do you apply your skill sets developed at South Colonie and college in today’s workforce?
A: While high school was an overall wonderful experience for me, there were some setbacks that helped prepare me for the corporate world. I was cut from the basketball team my sophomore year and lost the class presidency my senior year. Both losses were devastating to me at the time, but in the end I learned how to move on and learn from those experiences. Realizing that failure isn’t a representation of you as a person or your potential, but actually an opportunity to grow is one of the most valuable lessons I carry with me today. At work you might lose a key project to the competition after spending countless hours of work or receive a piece of critical feedback that you may or may not agree with. It’s what you do with those setbacks, not the setbacks themselves that define you as a professional.
Q: What do you suggest to today’s students to find their niche?
A: At Amazon we talk a lot about identifying and leveraging your “super power.” Your special skill(s) doesn’t always jump out in high school (or even much later), but if you continually challenge yourself, it will become clear. High school and college years are a great time to try new things and break out of your comfort zone. The more at bats you have in classes, clubs, sports, part-time jobs, friendships, etc, the more you get to know yourself. Don’t be afraid of failure. If you aren’t failing once in a while, you aren’t growing. It’s a great time across industries to explore employment options from locations other than big cities. A growing remote workforce brings more job opportunities right to where you live.
Q: Finally, what’s your favorite memory at South Colonie?
A: Definitely going to games on a Friday night. I went to a lot of football, soccer, and basketball games with friends. Cheering on the team, dressing up, and going to Friday’s or a friend’s house after are some of my favorite memories. Especially in the years after 9/11, when we weren’t sure how things would ever be “normal” again, rooting for the Raiders was a happy place where our community came together each week.
The above Five Questions were compiled by the South Colonie School District. If you would like to see someone featured in Five Questions, contact Jim Franco at [email protected] or 518-878-1000.
