Jake Farris’ faith permeates every aspect of his life.
The Flower Mound High School senior is the President of Circle of Friends, a club in which students interact and form relationships with special needs students. He’s also a leader of the Salt and Light Bible Study.
Farris, 17, said that regardless of what direction he takes after graduating from high school, he always wants to live life to the fullest.
“If I could do anything with my life, I’d like to show people who the Lord is– and the hope that is found in Him,” Farris said. “I want to marry a girl that pursues that same goal with me and has fun doing it; and, who I can serve well and lead confidently. I’d also love to have a lot of kids to run around with and pass on my wisdom to, and I want to travel to some awesome places so that I can meet even more awesome people. Life is a party and I want to celebrate day in and day out.”
The Flower Mound teen is a Science Club officer, a member of Student Council and National Honor Society, and a Student Ambassador at Flower Mound and said he feels obliged to be involved for a couple of reasons.
“The Lord has blessed me with opportunities to get to know the people He has placed around me and I’d be doing a disservice both to myself and to the kingdom by rejecting an opportunity to build community,” Farris said. “Secondly, life is too short to waste time and I want to be able to look back 10-years from now and confidently say that I did not misuse or mistreat my time in high school. I think the world is in need of change and you can’t make an impact without getting out there and trying new things and meeting new people.”
Farris, who’s also a Kindness Ambassador at FMHS, said one of the changes he’d like to see in the world starts with his own generation.
“I think the biggest issue affecting young people today is the incessant need to do things to satisfy other people,” Farris said. “There are an insanely high amount of expectations placed on my generation and I think it has become hard to enjoy life because we are so focused on checking things off the lists that different people have made for us.
“Success has become such a standardized, boxed-in, by-the-book goal that is to be attained, then updated, then pursued again. I think it is important to have goals, but I want to encourage my peers to pursue things that are meaningful to you and to dream big dreams and to not let service hours, GPA, college applications, your friends, or whatever else validate your self-image or define your success.”
Farris carries a 3.47 grade point average, plans to attend either Baylor University or Mississippi State and is undecided on a major.
Farris’ Favorites
Favorite Subject: Social Studies, specifically World History and Comparative World Government and Politics
Person who most inspires you: MaKenna McGraw, Dan Thomas and Cindy Lisenby
Favorite Food: Goldfish
Favorite Movie: The Blind Side
Favorite TV Show: Parks and Rec
Book Currently Reading: All The Money In The World by John Pearson
Favorite Musical Group or Performer: Chris Renzema
Nominate your favorite high school student for this monthly feature brought to you by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Flower Mound by emailing [email protected].
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