Jose Julian Falconi is a senior in the IB program and a member of the cross country team. Out of preference, and out of habit, people refer to him by his middle name, Julian, instead of by his first name. Aside from cross country, Julian also plays soccer and badminton, and is involved as the treasurer for International Baccalaureate Honor Society (IBHS), the secretary for Best Buddies, and a member of the National Honor Society (NHS).

At the beginning of his sophomore year, Julian decided to join cross country, and he has been a part of the team ever since. Although running isn’t his passion, he learned to enjoy it after a while. When asked why he joined the team, Falconi said, “I decided to join the cross country team so I can stay in shape.“

Each meet is pretty long, as those participating have to wait for all the categories to finish running; the team usually leaves school right after 2nd lunch and doesn’t gets back from a meet until around 6 PM. During the meet, the adrenaline rush starts to kick in for Julian when it is time to line up. He feels different after each race they do, but if one thing is for sure, it is that Julian just wants to drink tons of water and eat a PB&J sandwiches.

When asked about a comparison between each sport, Julian feels badminton and soccer are more alike, as you constantly evaluate situations and make quick decisions in both sports. Whereas during cross country, Falconi said, “You do the opposite. You try to blank out your mind while you run.”

Running itself helps people to clear their minds. During the time where you are running in cross country, you only have to worry about what’s happening at the moment, which blocks everything else out . In contrast, other sports require you to come up with different  strategies, and it’s more pressure put on you because your team mates are depending on you.

This past cross country season, Falconi wished to beat his personal goal of 19 minutes and 20 seconds for 3.1 miles, which he wasn’t able to do last year. However, Julian feels he has improved immensely since his sophomore year.  When he first started, he ran a 5k in about 24 minutes, whereas now he usually runs a 5k in a lesser, more improved time.

Being in IB and involved with sports means staying up late and being an organized student. He said, “I need to work on my time management skills.” Falconi would like to thank all the presidents and fellow board members of each club for keeping everything so organized and making it easier for things to get done faster.

Julian Falconi, a student that manages to be in 3 sports, and IB, and does all in his power to improve every chance he gets. As if sports wasn’t enough, he is also engaged in several school clubs that are beneficial in many ways. We wish Julian good luck, with all his future goals!