Growing up in Durham, North Carolina, Maija Roses lived in a world guided by science. After all, her parents were renowned neuroscience researchers at Duke with a focus on Alzheimer's disease, and dinner conversations predictably turned to the subject nearly every night.
 
As a youth, Roses wanted to be a part of those discussions and offer her own contributions whenever possible. Moving through high school, she excelled as a science student with an ability to memorize facts effectively, and she had good intentions to follow in her parents' footsteps in college.
 
So when Roses, a senior member of the Golden Bears' women's swimming & diving team, walks across the stage at graduation ceremonies this May, naturally she'll do so as a media studies major.
 
Wait … what?!?
 
Like many of her cohorts at Cal, Roses discovered a whole new path for her future after she enrolled, one that took her unexpected places but offers inspiration every day.
 
"When I came to college, I realized that there was a lot more to how my brain worked than what science could provide me," said Roses, whose first name is pronounced Maya. "I started realizing that I was more of a creative type. Science came pretty easily to me in high school and early college, but it didn't really give me that drive of a passion that the more creative stuff did."
 
Soon after arriving on campus, Roses began playing around with a GoPro camera, shooting videos for her team and producing a video blog for CalBears.com. That led her to experiment more in both video and photography with a realization that she could turn it into a career.
 
"I came in thinking I was going to do medicine," Roses said. "Now, I'm looking at film school or sports broadcasting or something in that realm I never thought I'd be doing. In that sense, it's pretty cool to see that progression academically."
 
Before she declared her major, Roses had to break the news to her parents that science was not in her future. At first, they were skeptical. "How are you going to find a job with what you're doing?" her father, Allen, asked. But once they viewed a few examples of what Roses could produce, their perspective changed.

"I think they just needed to see it," Roses said. "I wasn't going to get an easy walk out of the science realm in my family."
 
As she moved into her junior year, Roses was on an upward trajectory. She earned All-American Scholar honors for her work in the classroom and earned a place in Cal's all-time top 10 in the breaststroke events in the pool. Then in early October of 2016, her life took a sudden hit – her father, the Jefferson-Pilot Corporate Professor of Neurobiology at Duke's School of Medicine, died of a heart attack.
 
Roses went home to North Carolina to be around her family and support her mother, Ann Saunders. Although separated from the team for several weeks, she never felt apart from her teammates, who stayed in touch through phone calls, texts and social media. The connection allowed her to feel part of the team though she was nearly 3,000 miles away. She rejoined the Bears at a meet in Georgia in December when she transitioned back into a college student and swimmer.
 

"Everything I had to do when I had that time at home was about adapting, getting used to normal life again, understanding that my normal now is not what my normal used to be," Roses said. "It really just pushed me to really mature into what I should truly be. It really pushed me to become the individual that I needed to be. I really felt the need grasp every part of me and put it together to create that new normal. I definitely made good leaps when I was home back into December and coming back here in January and trying to fit back into my team in this new normal."
 
Following the 2016-17 season, Roses embarked on another journey, this one to Israel for the Maccabiah Games. Her results certainly could not have been any better – gold medals in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke and on the 400-meter medley relay for Team USA. However, Roses' trip included so much more that will have a lasting impact on her. While in Israel, she had her Bat Mitzvah alongside several other members of the U.S. team.
 
"It honestly all came together for me back at the Maccabiah Games when swimming and my family and my background just all collided at once in the most beautiful way," said Roses, who plans to end competitive swimming after this collegiate season. "The fact that I could have that awakening while I was also competing was an absorbing moment. It was the best way to start the ending of my career because it started summarizing what this whole two-decade journey in swimming has been. It started closing things out. Swimming there really made me feel close to my dad again. I felt like I was swimming for him more than I ever felt like I was before."
 
Roses has also drawn closer to her mother through the past year and a half. A self-described mama's girl, she has a deep appreciation for all of her mom's support, from taking her to pre-dawn and late-night practices to relying on her for emotional assistance. Now, she feels it is time to reverse roles.
 
"She was always supporting me when I was younger, but when my dad passed away, I knew it was my time to support her," Roses said. "I don't think many daughters feel they need to do that until much later in life. It was eye-opening to have that chance so early on in my life, to give back to her. Our relationship has changed a lot in the past year, but I've never been so open with her."
 
One more big change is on the horizon when Roses leaves Cal later this spring with her degree in hand. While she is still figuring out which road to take, she knows that she made the right choice four years ago when she decided to take her cross-country excursion to Berkeley.
 
"I got everything I need out of Cal," Roses said. "I found a passion that drives me nearly every single day. I've learned a lot about myself personally in ways I may not have done it anywhere else. I feel like Berkeley is such an open place that really allows you to find out who you really are without any boundaries. Honestly, I'm so thankful I came here for that."