Kristopher Murray
My name is Kristopher Murray. I graduated from Oak Park River Forest High School in 2011. While at OPRF I joined Spoken word my sophomore year and was fortunate enough to be on slam team during my senior year. After high school I went to Bowling Green State University. While at BGSU I tried different extra curricular activities such as mock trial. I also joined honors scholars. During my time in honors scholars I was able to travel to different film festivals around the country and read books from a wide variety of authors. After graduating college in 2015 I came back to Chicago to figure out where I want to take my life. I went to Second City and took classes in acting, improv, and stand up comedy. While taking classes at Second City I also jumped around to different jobs before finally joining the Chicago Police Department in 2018. I currently work as a police officer on the west side of Chicago.
The impact of poetry and the spoken word club
Finding the right words to explain how Spoken Word has impacted my life is incredibly difficult because I don’t know where to begin. As a young kid starting out in high school I struggled to find my place. I tried a couple different extra curricular activities my freshman year of school but none of them felt right to me. It wasn’t until I joined Spoken word my sophomore year that I knew I was in the right place. Getting up on a stage and sharing poems about personal things in my life forced me to come out of my shell. It was the first time in my life where I willingly putting myself in an uncomfortable situation and at first it was not easy. The more shows I did and the more I wrote, the more I began feeling myself grow as a person. The repeated practice of overcoming that discomfort gave me a level of confidence that I’ve taken with me to overcome other obstacles in my life. Another great aspect of spoken word was that for most of my high school experience, it was the one thing I could look forward to on any given day. I was not a very strong student in high school and many days I did not feel like coming to school. Spoken word gave me a reason to get out of bed in the morning and to push through whatever I was dealing with that day. Spoken word made me a better student in school and without it I would have lost the confident person I have become today.
Top favorite poets or lyricists
Poets: Charles Bukowski, Nikki Giovanni, and Gwendolyn Brooks
Lyricists: Lupe Fiasco, Fredrick Douglas, and Chuck Palahniuk
Writing Prompts
Write about a time you did something people around you encouraged you not to do
Write about a time you were doubted and how you overcame or didn’t overcome the situation
Write about how a particular color plays a role in your life
Write a poem that begins with the line “____ is/are heavy”