This feature originally appeared in the 2023 Fall edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.
 

When Monroe Young arrived in Berkeley from the quaint town of Las Cruces, New Mexico, as a 17-year-old in June of 2018, the speedy wide receiver wasn't the only thing moving fast.
 
"Berkeley was a huge transition," Young said. "It was a culture shock coming from a small town. Everything was a lot more fast-paced – football-wise, academic-wise. It was just a lot more challenging than what I had experienced growing up."
 
What Young experienced in his formative years was New Mexico's second-largest city with a population of just over 100,000 people, according to the 2020 census – almost as many as Berkeley's 124,321. But with a density of about 12% of his new home in the Bay Area, the lifestyles were worlds apart.
 
Young also had lots of family support in his hometown that he didn't have over 1,000 miles away. His father and youth sports coach, Fredd Young, a former football standout in the NFL and at New Mexico State, and his mother, Michelle Farris, who was also his elementary school teacher, were his main guidance, along with his six siblings.
 
It made it easy for him to be successful in both athletics and academics, and there were not a lot of distractions, especially with a strictly enforced 10 p.m. curfew.
 
"My dad was always on us and making sure we were in the right place at the right time, and he never wanted us to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," Young said. "If we didn't make it home by that time, our phones were taken and our PlayStations were gone by the time we got home. He wanted us to focus and keep our heads on straight."
 
A three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and track and field at Onate High School (later renamed Organ Mountain High School), Young would become the first student-athlete from the Las Cruces area in seven years to attend a Power 5 school on a football scholarship when he joined Cal in 2018.
 
"It was a huge deal for me," Young said. "That's why I represent Las Cruces and New Mexico so much because a lot of athletes don't get the opportunity I have. I want to pave the way for them and be their inspiration and motivation. It's something I don't take lightly at all."
 
But Berkeley was a brave new world and Young found it quite difficult at first.
 
"That first summer I was here was the low point," Young said. "I had become so comfortable living at home and then I was just thrown into the real world away from family. I felt so isolated."
 
Fortunately, it wasn't long before he started to feel more comfortable.
 
"Once I started to meet everybody and get closer with a couple of my teammates, it made the transition easier for me and Berkeley started to feel like home," Young said.
 
Still, it would take even longer for Young to adjust on the field. He had played mostly defensive back in high school but was recruited to Cal as a wide receiver. He had only played the position as a two-way player during his senior season of high school, and it wasn't until his third campaign with the Bears that he made his first catch. He had just six receptions through his first four campaigns that included a 2020 season shortened to four games by the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
His statistics may have been slow in materializing, but his confidence and comfortability in all areas of his life were growing at a healthy rate. It took him just three years to earn a bachelor's degree in legal studies. and on the field, he was earning a reputation as the team's best blocking wide receiver and a dependable player on special teams.
 
By the time Young reached his fifth season in 2022, football and life in Berkeley had both slowed down since he had arrived four years earlier as a wide-eyed 17-year-old. Young blossomed with 23 receptions for 231 yards and the first three touchdowns catches of his career, all over the final five games.
 
"Monroe has found ways to develop throughout his career and continues to do so," Cal wide receiver coach Burl Toler III said. "His diligent mindset has allowed him to thrive on special teams throughout his career and more recently on offense. His understanding of defenses and what we want to accomplish as an offense has given him that mental edge to not only succeed but to dominate. He has carved his way into being one of the most essential weapons in our offense and nobody that has been around him is surprised."
 
Young, who announced last December that he would be returning for a sixth season at Cal in 2023, is expecting his final season at Cal to be special after the Golden Bears were a disappointing 4-8 a year ago.
 
"One of the biggest reasons I came back was to end my college career on a better note," Young said. "We need to win more games. We didn't have the season we wanted to last year, and I can't have that happen again."
 
Both Young and Toler know how important his ability to produce and lead others will be for a 2023 squad with lots of new faces.
 
"I feel like I'm in a leadership role now, being an older guy in the room," said Young, who celebrated his 23rd birthday just prior to the start of the 2023 season. "I understand the culture and the expectations, which helps me thrive in my leadership role. I'm taking a lot of the younger players under my wing."
 
"Monroe is a leader in every sense," Toler added. "He truly understands what it means to be a Golden Bear. Monroe has been here and stuck with us through ups and downs, and he continues to be the glue that holds everyone together. He pushes his teammates to excel on and off the field, and he even demands my best as a coach. I trust him to lead our group to where we need to be."
 
And after he does that, where will Young go?
 
"I have NFL aspirations," Young said. "That's something I've always dreamed of as a kid, but right now I'm focused on being the best college football player I can be and reaching my full potential. I feel like the rest will take care of itself."
 
"It's nice to play at that next level after college, but when it comes down to it, it's that education that's going to take you through the rest of your life," added his father, Fredd, who was a two-time first-team All-Pro and four-time Pro Bowler during a seven-year NFL career with the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts.
 
With a bachelor's degree in legal studies, as well as graduate certificates in business administration and entrepreneurship from Cal already on his resume, and a master's degree in education coming this December, Monroe certainly has that.
 
"That is the definition of taking advantage of a full scholarship," Young summed up with a confident chuckle.
 
It took him a while to get up to speed, but once he got there, it's been full speed ahead.