Cal senior Morgan Hellen just graduated with a degree in architecture, a feat that many thought he'd never accomplish.
“Everyone said I couldn't do it,” Hellen recalled.
Well before he first stepped onto the Cal campus as a freshman from Kent, England, Hellen already had his career goals in mind. English students who want to study at the university level must set their career paths in advance, which is how he came to choose architecture early on.
“A lot of people were pretty negative about it because I decided that's what I wanted to do,” Hellen explained, “but it made me want it even more.”
Hellen began rowing at the age of 12 and built an affinity for the sport. With strong performances at the Junior World Rowing Championships several years later in 2010, he was soon being recruited to compete in the United States.
“I wanted to pick the right university, not just for the athletics, and Cal offered everything – academics, weather and sport,” he said.
Hellen has since become a vital contributor to men's crew and is in his third spring as a member of the Bears' varsity eight, which he helped to a runner-up finish at IRA nationals last season and to third place in 2014.
Named to the Pac-12 All-Academic team both in 2014 and 2015, Hellen knew the challenges of balancing both academic work and practices at the No. 1 public university in the world.
“At times, it was definitely challenging with time management,” Hellen said. “My junior year was pretty tough. There was a lot of late nights, like working until 2 a.m. and then getting up at 6 a.m. for practice. That was tough.”
But Hellen also noticed the parallels between rowing and his architecture major. In many of his classes, students are critiqued on their work building models. While several of his classmates had difficulty with the assessments from professors, Hellen said that his coaches' criticisms have “really set me up being able to accept my failures and move forward.”
He credits head coach Mike Teti for much of his success both in the boat and in the classroom.
“Academically, some of my classes were during practice times,” Hellen said. “He would work with me to where I could practice on my own at different times at certain points during the semester to go to class because the architecture classes were only offered once a year at certain times.
“It was a difficult schedule, so coach definitely helped me out,” Hellen added. “He trusted me a lot to do workouts on my own, so I owe him a lot for being able to do architecture. I want to say thanks because I'm so grateful for the opportunity he's given me.”
With one more semester remaining, Hellen is looking to finish his final season as a Golden Bear on a high at the IRA Championships this June before returning back to England to compete for a spot on his home country's national rowing team.
And if given the chance to major anything else, Hellen says he wouldn't change a thing.
“I learned a lot about myself and I worked way harder than I ever thought I could coming into Cal,” Hellen said. “I grew a lot as a person because of it, pushing myself both academically and athletically.”
