Most of what Julian Farrish knows about time management comes from his years playing football.
Farrish, who will be a first-year student at NC State University’s College of Engineering in the fall, comes from Roxboro, North Carolina, and spent much of his high school career at Person High School dedicated to the sport as a linebacker. He was one of six football players to headline Person’s fall 2023 all-Central Conference selections.
After an injury earlier this year, Farrish doesn’t plan on playing sports in the fall, but he says football taught him a lot of the skills he will need over the next few years.
“I just write my stuff down,” he said, gesturing to the white board behind him. “Week by week, so I’ll reset every Sunday. If I got something on a Tuesday, I’ll write that down first because it’s coming up soon. I plan my schedules this way because I was on a schedule my whole life playing football.”
He received several offers for football scholarships from different universities and initially signed with Davidson College to play football, but changed his plans after his injury.
Farrish applied to schools with strong engineering programs all over the East Coast, including North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in Greensboro and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He also applied to Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and Pennsylvania State University in University Park, Pennsylvania.
“Since I was little, I just always liked building stuff,” he said. “I used to build birdhouses. I built a treehouse with my dad when I was little. I’ve always been building stuff, like Lego stuff. It’s always been on my mind.”
Farrish plans to join the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering. He said he ultimately chose NC State because of the program and the environment, but also because of the location, which is only an hour and a half away from his family.
He hasn’t spent much time in the Raleigh area, but he visited NC State prior to deciding to attend. Last summer, he participated in the Emerging Scholars Academy, a pre-college program for juniors and seniors. Programming and cultural exploration is geared toward Black and African American students, though anyone can apply.
Farrish has already joined the Students Advocating for Youth (SAY) Village, a learning village in Syme Hall for first-year students across academic disciplines. Residents develop mentoring relationships with local elementary school students from one of three participating Wake County schools.
Between his major and the requirements of living in a learning village, Farrish is already planning on how best to take care of himself and his mental health. His strict organization will help. So will working out, which he plans to do at the gym.
“My main goal when I come to college is to focus on my major and try to master it the best I can,” Farrish said. “Then, also worry about networking, because networking is the key to everything.”
