Champion swimmer Missy Franklin made a splash when she arrived at Berkeley in fall 2013.
The five-time Olympic medalistwas committing her prodigious talents to the Cal Golden Bears swim team, refusing the lure of sponsorships and endorsement deals.
I wanted to go somewhere where I felt challenged, she told NewsCenter videographers Roxanne Makasdjian and Phil Ebiner in a newvideo that showcases her swimming and her reflections on campus life.
This is the last year Franklin will be competing with the Cal team. After this spring, following her long-established timetable, shes going pro though she says shell continue her studies at Berkeley and will still train with the team.
Of her life at Berkeley, she tells the magazine:
This is such a special time of my life, where I get to do what I love every single day, and I get to swim and wake up and go be with my friends and my team.
And she add: It really does give me the opportunity to walk around and be just a normal student, which I love.
In the video, she tells the NewsCenter that its important to her to graduate, and imagines hernext career after swimming.
A psychology major with plans to minor in education, she envisions becoming an elementary school teacher kindergarten, and maybe special education.
I will 100 percent do whatever I can do to get that diploma, says Franklin.