This feature originally appeared in the 2023-24 Winter edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.
 

The ability to lead can't always be taught. Not everyone is cut out for it.
 
After all, an intrinsic quality of leadership is the capability to stand out from the rest of the crowd. It requires seeing past one's self - one's own status as an individual - in order to empathize with and guide those around them.
 
It seems as if many great leaders were born to lead. Upon first meeting California women's gymnastics star Mya Lauzon - whose body of work in a multitude of areas and second-nature confidence appear effortless at times - one might think she has always been this way.
 
Whether leaders are born or not, at some point in time they had to learn, follow great role models, or have an astute sense of their own successes and failures so they are able to use them as a teaching tool.
 
"In high school, I didn't know much about extracurriculars," said Lauzon, who graduated from Kentridge High School in Washington in 2021. "I don't think I ever had the chance or the confidence to step up and do the things I'm doing now when I was in high school or prior to that."
 
Being a student-athlete at any level has challenges. It requires great discipline, time management and commitment.
 
The challenge of becoming a women's gymnast at Cal, a program that consistently ranks among the best in the country, is an all-encompassing one. Even so, Lauzon - who in the last year alone became a six-time All-American, tied the Golden Bears' all-around scoring record, notched the first perfect 10 on the balance beam and Pac-12 beam title in school history, and more than doubled the size of her extracurricular plate - has continued to take on even more tasks.
 
"With gymnastics, there is always a lot on your plate from the time you're young," Lauzon said. "Coming to college introduced me a lot to things like leadership roles, community engagement, and being a representative for our team. It also gave me the realization that I do have a voice."
 
Lauzon, who describes herself as an "energetic and loud" person, couldn't have imagined the number of things she'd be responsible for upon first arriving in Berkeley. Along with her goal to be a great student at the top public university in the country, her other primary focus was on becoming a reliable and impactful member of the Bears' women's gymnastics squad, which last year ranked as high as fourth in the nation.
 
Fortunately for Lauzon, like many other underclassmen, she wasn't burdened with too much responsibility right off the bat. But whether she intended to or not, she slowly learned how to become the person who could handle those things.
 
"In my freshman year, I was able to observe our team's coaches council and learn from our juniors and seniors that were taking up leadership roles in college," Lauzon said. "I thought to myself that this is going to fly by fast. Eventually, I'm going to be an upperclassman, so I've definitely become more familiar and confident in using my voice."
 
"Mya is incredibly thoughtful and has a very energetic personality," co-head coach Liz Crandall-Howell said. "These characteristics really help her in her leadership roles. As her confidence has grown, she has become more intentional in using her voice and experience to positively affect the communities around her. This has led her to take on multiple leadership roles, both within our team and within the greater college athletics community."
 
The first step into leadership for Lauzon - outside of growing into her voice and leading by example in the gym - was joining the coaches council during her sophomore year in 2022-23. During her junior year, she has gone further, becoming a member of Cal's Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) and its mental health and wellness subcommittee, accepting an invitation to join the Atlantic Coast Conference SAAC, and stepping into a role as Cal women's gymnastics' community service lead.
 
"It's kind of crazy because last year, I was only on coaches council. I just had one responsibility that was really new to me," Lauzon said. "When we started school this semester, I was asked to do more, and I was like, 'Yeah, I'll do that, too.' The rest of it has just been really cool."
 
Despite the immense extra workload, it's clear how much Lauzon cares about each role she now finds herself in, as she speaks with a sense of fondness and passion about whichever project currently has the spotlight.
 
As her team's community service lead, Lauzon has gotten to work heavily alongside Cameron Institute director of community engagement & partnerships Jessie Stewart to find opportunities for her team to engage in community service activities all around the East Bay. One recent development includes recurring visits to Kipp Bridge Rising Elementary School in Oakland, where Lauzon and her
teammates teach kids physical education at recess throughout the school year.
 
"Mya is an all-around incredible leader who recognizes her platform and opportunity to make positive contributions within our East Bay community," Stewart said. "She has stepped up to take the lead in motivating and organizing her team to have a positive and sustained presence at Kipp Bridge Rising Elementary in West Oakland for the second year in a row, where they go weekly to support and role-model inclusive play at recess in the after-school program."
 
With Cal's SAAC, Lauzon gets to focus on mental well-being. It's an area that is already of great interest to her, and she is happy to be able to channel her own experiences and findings into helping others.
"I wanted to join SAAC too because being a student-athlete, mental health is obviously very important for us," Lauzon said. "To find balance with our sport and manage our well-being is something that really interested me."
 
With the SAAC mental health subcommittee, Lauzon has helped with their peer-to-peer program, which meets once a week and is open to all student-athletes.
 
"It's where you can just come in, talk about anything, sit around and get to open up," Lauzon said. "It's a time where you can find a place to be vulnerable, but also safe, and be in an environment with people who are just like you in the position of being a student-athlete at Cal and going through all the adversity of it."
 
Lauzon's role within the ACC's SAAC is far different, but also holds a great deal of importance with her team's impending move out of the Pac-12 Conference.
 
"I've attended a couple meetings where we got to discuss future competition schedules and obstacles like travel expenses with our team being on the West Coast and the rest of the conference being on the East Coast," Lauzon said. "It was cool to be a part of these meetings, to talk with other women from the ACC and put in perspective how next year is going to look."
 
Lauzon is undoubtedly producing both in the gym and outside of it, something she credits to being in an environment that she believes will only continue allowing her to grow and succeed in new ways.
 
"I feel like coming to Berkeley has given me the opportunity to become more confident because we have such a diverse and open campus," Lauzon said. "We have a lot of opportunities for student-athletes to express their opinions and their voices in different situations. It's been really cool to come here and be a part of this team, to be a representative and be able to use my voice to step into leadership roles and help out in the community."