Since its inception in 2019, the Step Forward Scholarship Fund has awarded 80 scholarships totaling more than $380,000 to employees and their children due to the generosity of club members. We recently checked in with SFSF recipients Colin Liebe and Brooke Murphy since they graduated from the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill and Duke University respectively and embarked on their exciting new careers.

                                                                                Colin Liebe
                                                                              Golf:  2021-2023
                                                                        Scholarship Recipient: 2022
​ “I graduated from UNC - Chapel Hill last May with a degree in computer science. I’m living in Charlotte and am about 8 months into my role as a technical consulting engineer at Cisco. Basically, I work directly with customers to troubleshoot software issues on Cisco devices. It has been a long learning process due to the technical acumen that’s required by my job, but I’m gaining more and more comfort by the day.
 
The scholarship, and Governors Club in general, played a huge part in my ability to excel in the role I’m currently in.  A lot of the skills I gained from working a customer-facing job in the golf department at GC directly translate to my current job!
 
I was able to develop great relationships with members while working at GC. Dan Kaferle and Bill Wallace, who were both on the scholarship committee, were incredibly helpful to me when it came to taking advantage of the scholarship opportunity and I am so grateful to them for it. The scholarship shows how the members of GC truly do care about the employees there, and speaks a lot about the general attitude surrounding the club.
 
I’m planning on moving back to the Raleigh area this summer and would love to be able to see a lot of the members and my former coworkers on a more regular basis again.”
Brooke Murphy
Dining Services: 2020-2022
Scholarship Recipient: 2021 and 2022
"​I worked in the clubhouse as a server and a host. I especially loved working Wednesday nights because the Koopmanns, the Ingelbincks, the Huckles and the Laughreys had standing dinner reservations and would sit in my section. They almost immediately took a personal interest in my life, always making sure I was doing well in my studies and offering their advice where they could. On my last shift before graduating, they all got me a card and took time out of their night to congratulate me. This is one of many examples I could share of how the SFSF and the members of Governors Club have impacted me. While the scholarship fund alleviated many of my financial worries, it was the people behind the funding who truly made a difference in my life.
 
Since graduating from Duke’s nursing program in 2021, I have worked at Duke Hospital in the Pediatric Cardiac ICU. I have loved getting to work with such a special patient population and their families. Being a part of Duke’s congenital heart center has given me the opportunity to work with new and innovative surgical techniques. Duke has been the first institution to perform a heart-thymus transplant, a partial heart transplant and a heart transplant following donor circulatory death. While these have been exciting medical advancements, my favorite part about my job is watching people become parents. There is something truly special about watching people grow into their new roles."
  
"One of the most rewarding aspects of the SFSF program is witnessing first-hand the academic progress of many of our recipients like Colin and Brooke on a personal, nearly daily basis and then seeing them successfully launch their careers,” said SFSF President Nancy Broaddus. “In many ways, we feel like the proud parents Brooke spoke about.”