BERKELEY – The daily drill for collegiate student-athletes across the country comes right out of a very recognizable playbook.

Class, practice, study, compete, repeat.

Call it the contrarian tendencies of a good Cal student or simply the ability to seize an opportunity but Golden Bear athletes are working to add an entry to that script.

A program designed to give student-athletes an up-close look into businesses across the Bay Area is well underway this fall thanks to the efforts of the Cal Student-Athlete Development office. The first field trip of the semester took a group of Golden Bears to the Pac-12 Network studio and offices in San Francisco and Cal athletes got a chance to interact and network with executives and staff as well as on-air personalities from the conference's flagship network.

With trip No. 2, the program's reach got a little wider. A group of nearly 20 students and staff ventured into Silicon Valley to tour Google headquarters, meeting at 6:45 a.m. under dark skies outside California Memorial Stadium and making the trek to Mountain View to take a look at what a day really looks like for one of the world's most recognizable and influential companies.

Not surprisingly, the trip's genesis came as a product of the vast Cal Athletics alumni network. Google Vice President of People Operations and Chief Culture Officer Stacy Savides-Sullivan, a Cal women's tennis donor and alumna, helped Cal Director of Student-Athlete Development Bobby Thompson arrange the day, putting the Bears in touch with Google University Programs Specialist Mary Kate McHugh and Google MBA Programs Specialist Tanya Choudhury.

"This is Google, one of the places I wanted to go on one of these field trips and I didn't have a connection there," Thompson said. "I asked one of our student-athletes (women's tennis player Karla Popovic) if she would introduce me to Stacy via email and she happily did so. I introduced myself, student-athlete development and what we do and described this program we were trying to roll out. Immediately, I had her buy-in. She connected me with a couple people who do this on a daily basis at Google and the rest was history."

After meeting briefly to go over the day's events, McHugh and Choudhury led Cal student-athletes and staff on a tour of Google's central campus. Among the highlights was a stop for photos with an Oreo statue, placed right in the middle of campus to highlight Google's newest mobile operating system, as well as other purposely placed art designed to promote creativity and innovation among the Google workforce.

Walking through campus and mingling with the Google workforce provided Cal athletes with an idea of what a normal work day looked like, exposing the group to a valuable piece of professional life.

"I've heard a lot of things about Google and what the office culture is like and to see that firsthand is really cool," Cal men's swimmer Ryan Kao said. "Being able to see what Google is actually about and being able to take a tour was awesome."

After the tour, the Bears returned to their initial classroom setting to hear directly from Savides-Sullivan in a keynote address that challenged the group to stay open-minded and positive when it comes to planning for the future.

A panel discussion with former collegiate student-athletes now working at Google provided another opportunity for questions and the day concluded with an inside look into what a company like Google looks for when interviewing potential additions to their workforce.

"It's an incredible opportunity both ways," Savides-Sullivan said. "I always think that athletes have a total advantage in the working environment because of their grit and dedication and work ethic and loyalty to their teams. They may or may not ever be interested in working for a high-tech company but I think it's an awesome opportunity to come and at least hear about what it's all about and start thinking about it early on, even as a freshman or sophomore, to see if it's something that's going to be inspiring."

That message resonated especially for Cal track and field senior Eugene Hamilton III, who also had the chance to visit Pac-12 Networks.

"At Google, we learned how to strategically analyze, dissect, and approach interview questions in a way which demands critical thought and open-mindedness," Hamilton said in his post-trip reflection. "Multiple speakers shared the importance of demonstrating versatility while leveraging one's academic experiences to pursue dynamic careers. As a Pac-12 HQ and Google field trip participant, I have developed a better understanding of the expectations for the next step, and how to prepare for the transition to life after college."

By the end of the day, Thompson found himself fielding questions from student-athletes eager to participate in future field trips. Plans are already in place to continue the program throughout the year with several destinations in the works.

"I'm really big on perspective. The perspective they have right now is as a college kid and a student-athlete," Thompson said. "To be able to be on Google's campus rubbing elbows with people who work at Google and walking in hallways and open spaces and feel it and experience it, they can't ever un-see that. Now, it's etched in their mind that maybe this is something I want to be a part of. Or, maybe it's not and that's not a bad thing either."