“If I really strive to become a better person and live the way that Christ has entitled me to do so,” senior Christopher Grey says, “I’ll achieve my goals and He’ll help me regardless of the circumstances.”

Christopher has  been going to church with his family since he was young, and it’s clear that his faith has played an important role in his life, both in the classroom and on the soccer field. Christopher currently plays for the prestigious San Jose Earthquakes Academy, and he’s headed to U.C. Berkeley next year on a scholarship. There, he hopes to continue to play the game he loves while majoring in Computer Science — an impressive feat, considering that Cal boasts both competitive Division I athletics and a world-renowned Computer Science department.

Though his natural athletic gifts are apparent, it’s his dedication and work ethic that have allowed his career to progress as far as it has. Christopher’s schedule is both demanding and rigid — he’s missed out on events like Homecoming, and he isn’t able to see his friends as often as he’d like but he realizes that the long hours have paid off.

“I struggled with [the commitment level] throughout high school,” Christopher said. “But I was blessed to get a scholarship, and because of athletics, I’m able to go to a good institution. I think knowing that throughout the years has driven me to work as hard as I can to become a better player.”

For Christopher, receiving an athletic scholarship to U.C. Berkeley was just the next step on his journey as a student athlete. Despite offers from a number of other schools, among them Yale, Harvard and Georgetown, Cal was the obvious choice for him.

“The campus is nice and the school offers academics as well as athletics, so that drove me to go there,” Christopher said. “They’re one of the top computer science schools in the nation so that’s also a plus. [And] it’s close to home.”

Christopher plans to use his degree in conjunction with his sports background to improve athletes’ performance and rehabilitation.

“I think my end goal would be to use computer science to enhance the sports analytics world, and try to make things better for players and how they recover from injuries and how they prepare for games,” Christopher said.

Above all, Christopher has learned not to take his success for granted. His Christian upbringing has given him humility and a sense of perspective, and he acknowledges the opportunity that’s been afforded to him.

“There are so many other people that are less fortunate than we are, and we live in such a nice area where we’re able to go to a good school and the teachers actually care about us,” Christopher said. “In terms of soccer, He gave me athletic ability. Nothing without God is possible, I believe. You can think that working hard is part of the process of getting there but God can take it away from you at any minute.”