BERKELEY – It is not rare for the time spent in college to have a transformative effect on a person.

But Drake Callender's time in Berkeley seems like so much more than that.

Callender, a junior goalie for the Cal men's soccer team, has become about as Berkeleyish as you can get. He is a vegan. He writes poetry and is an artist. He meditates.

That Callender has embraced the culture at Cal isn't what makes his story significant. It's where he came from – physically, geographically, mentally and emotionally – that makes his college experience so improbable, yet at the same time so inspirational.

Callender didn't have much growing up in Fair Oaks, Calif., outside Sacramento. He lived in apartments and duplexes with his parents and older brother, Ian. From the first grade on, Callender always stood out on an athletic field. But he never really thought much about using his physical status as a pathway to a four-year university.

Callender was content kayaking or paddle boarding with friends on the nearby American River. Nobody in his family had ever attended a four-year college, and quite frankly he wasn't thinking about breaking the streak. He certainly wasn't thinking about writing poetry.

But Callender's priorities changed after he started playing for the San Jose Earthquakes Academy and met goalkeeper coach Henry Foulk, who also holds the same title at Cal. Foulk recognized Callender's enormous yet unharnessed physical gifts and ultimately offered him a scholarship to become a Golden Bear. It was that move to Berkeley that morphed Callender into a strikingly different person.

"I feel like Berkeley has allowed me to find out more about myself," said Callender, who was an All-Pac-12 First Team selection last year as a sophomore. "I think it was always there. It was more about reaching that point. I feel like I was meant to go here."

Callender talks and acts like someone who was meant to attend Cal. He begins a lunchtime interview by unsnapping a plastic container to reveal some vegetarian chili combined with kidney beans. His New Year's Resolution was to become a better artist and poet, and he has done both.

He also draws an analogy between his goalie personality and his off-field persona.

"Playing goalie has kind of shaped who I am today," Callender said. "I want to help people. I'm always looking for the best solution, and as a goalie, I'm always scanning the field and letting my teammates know if something is coming."

Callender was a sophomore at Bella Vista High School when he joined the Earthquakes Academy. He spent two years commuting 3-4 times a week from Fair Oaks to San Jose, and when it became apparent that soccer might take him farther than he had been thinking it would when he was floating along the American River, Callender moved in with family friends in San Jose for his senior year and attended Cambrian International Academy.

"That was brutal," Julie Callender said. "We made it work. He would literally get out of school and do his homework in the car. Most of the time he would go to bed at midnight and have to get up for school the next day. But he never complained."

Callender has had a built-in support system in Berkeley living with best friend Donovan Sykes, a former promising pitching prospect who attended Bella Vista with him and had his baseball career cut short by injury. Sykes now attends Berkeley Community College and hopes to earn a Ph.D someday.

"I think Drake has definitely opened up a lot," Sykes said. "He always had these things in him, but where we grew up didn't necessarily push you to who you want to be. Once he got to Berkeley, there were no preconceived notions about him."

Despite the busy schedule of a successful Division I student-athlete, Callender carves out the time to shop for the ingredients for his vegan diet and make his meals as well. He says the nutritional benefits have helped his game and his quality of life.

"I went vegan last year and I felt a difference in my playing style," Callender said. "I'm mentally clear. My digestion was a lot better. My colon was being cleansed. And I like to cook my own food. I like to know what's in my food. Cooking my own food is almost like ritualistic. If you get it done and turn it into something that you are comfortable with, it's not that big of a problem. It's just good life skills."

Callender said part of his motivation for drawing and writing poetry is to demonstrate that he is more than just a soccer player.

"I want to have something my kids can look back on," he said. "It's more than a side thing to pass time. It's almost therapeutic. It's very calming. I just really enjoy putting time into things and getting something out of it.

"I'm not trying to be something I'm not. Leonardo da Vinci started somewhere. I've always just enjoyed art. It's a few things to put up on your wall. I want to be more rounded as a person. I don't want to be seen as just a goalkeeper at Cal."

For the record, Callender is a very good goalkeeper – good enough that he likely will play professionally someday. But he just began his junior season and much of his story at Cal has yet to be written.

"I was fortunate to have him come to the academy," Foulk said. "Cal is a great place for a personality like him. I think he's found a good comfort level. If he stays focused, he's going to end up with everything. He will have remolded his life."

And make no mistake - the culture of Cal is largely responsible for the remaking of Drake Callender.

"Coming from our background, the fact that he's at Berkeley – I still have to pinch myself," Julie Callender said. "He's having this opportunity to go to one of the top colleges in the world. I am so grateful for that.

"Playing here at Cal is a blessing," Callender said. "I'm able to do something I love and it's also helped me grow as a person. Berkeley is a place where a lot of great things have happened. I feel like I almost have to live up to that."