When Lochryn Howe received her UC Berkeley acceptance letter, life as a Golden Bear flashed before her eyes. But not for the first time.
 
"From the moment she was born, she had us beating Cal into her head", said Brad Howe, Lochryn's father
 
Lochryn is one of six family members to attend Call including her father, who played for the Golden Bear football team from 1986-1987.
 
Lochryn Howe, a freshman cross country and track and field dual threat, has raced for the Bears in three meets this season, helping lead the Bears to their top Pac-12 finish in five years.
 
"Cal has been part of my entire life, even before I started thinking about college," Howe said. "I had never thought about it as a school to go to; I just thought about it as the team we rooted for. Slowly as the college process started, I remembered that it was also a school. I had forgotten about that."  
Howe never thought of herself as a Cal Bear, but as her college recruiting process began, the reality of her family ties became more and more prominent.
 
Howe's recruiting process began later than most, and things just fell seamlessly into place.
 
"I talked to the coaches later on in the whole recruiting process, but it really felt that everything happens for a reason," she said.
 
Brad Howe reflects on a photo of his two daughters, ages 2 and 4, as a crystal ball for their future colleges. The two girls are dressed in cheerleading outfits for each of their future schools, Lochryn donned in California colors and her sister, a Northwestern soccer player, dressed in purple and white. When Howe committed to California and received her acceptance letter, the small stuffed Cal bear that was wearing that same cheerleading outfit delivered the package. It was truly a full circle moment.
  When asked about Lochryn, Brad notes the pride he feels about his daughter's hard work that led her to Berkeley.
 
"We feel tremendous pride," he said. "She worked very hard to go through both her high school (Harvard-Westlake in Studio City, California), and in addition to that, worked extremely hard on her running to get to the point she is at today. The pride that we have in her is incredible.
 
The pride Brad feels about his daughter's college choice reflects his outlook of the school as his alma mater, and the connection he has kept with the university is not just because of his daughter's attendance.
 
"Cal is a very unique place," Brad Howe said. "It blends all the best of a great university with an alumni base and student population that is proud of the school."
 
For Lochryn, her time at Cal has just begun, but she is already thinking about the legacy she hopes to leave behind. Seeing the love her father and the rest of her alumni family have for the school pushes her to want to be a large part of the Cal community.
 
"I like being thought of as well-rounded," Lochryn Howe said. "As much as I want to be the best at everything I do, it doesn't mean I'll kill myself to be the best. The legacy I want to leave is as someone who does well academically and has a big impact on the team, not necessarily just for running, but as a team member. The team has been really great to me, and I'm really thankful to be a part of it. So I want to give that to younger people and stay a big member of the team all four years of college."
 
While life after Berkeley is a long time away, the freshman wants to stay connected to the university just as her parents did.
 
"After college, I don't know what I can do as an (alumnus) yet, but I hope to stay a large part of the community," Howe said. "I think it's so cool when people have gone and worked, become successful, and then come and give back. It's more special when they had a big presence at the school when they were here."
 
Lochryn credits her parents for her desire to make these four years as memorable as possible.
 
"Growing up around my parents, and how much they love Cal, I want to be like that," she said. "I want to remember my time here as the best years of my life, but want to constantly be giving back so everyone else after me can have a great experience."
 
The Cal cross country team competes in the NCAA West Regional Championships Friday in Seattle, Washington.