For college students in their first year away from home and their family, it can be a tough adjustment. Students have to learn to fend for themselves and earn their independence.

There really are no exceptions, even if you are a two-time Olympian and world champion athlete, like current DU student Michelle Kwan.

“I have to do my own laundry and stuff, so that’s a bummer,” said Kwan, the former top female figure skater in the world. “I live alone here. I lived alone in L.A. too, but my mom would come over to do my laundry and clean up. When I’m back home, there is always gas in my car, and my house is spotless.”

Kwan, 26, is currently in her first year of classes at DU, focusing on classes in the Political Science Department.

Since taking a hiatus from the sport that brought her much fame and opportunity, Kwan is now trying to recover from an August surgery on her leg while attending classes.

Though Kwan did take some classes at her hometown University of California-Los Angeles, travel and competition limited her to only finish one full year.

‘”I went there (UCLA) for a few years, but only finished about a year,” said Kwan. “So, I am a sophomore and almost a junior.”

Kwan said that although she did receive criticism from friends for deciding to go to school, she felt that it was something that she needed to do.

“A lot of my friends that are older were like, ‘What are you doing? Why are you going back to school?'” said Kwan. “I just feel that with skating, you can only do so much, and, after having surgery, I realized that I can only skate for so long. But an education is something that you can always have, always fall back on.”

Like many other world-renowned athletes, Kwan has decided to try to earn her degree. But, unlike notable athletes such as Tiger Woods or Shaquille O’Neal, she did not decide to go back to the school that she started at.

“It’s something that’s different,” said Kwan of attending school in the Mile High City. “I am from Los Angeles born and raised, but I have a lot of friends here. Also, I like the city of Denver a lot.

“When I came on campus here and saw the rink, the Ritchie center and Magness, I just liked it a lot. Also, I like that it is 50 percent grad students and 50 percent undergrad, because I am older, I am 26. So, I don’t feel as odd.”

Though one might expect a former Olympic medalist and arguably the most recognizable athlete in her sport to feel odd about being in classes with people four to six years younger than her, Kwan says that the transition has been easier because she has been received so well by her fellow students and her professors.

“[Students] have been normal. I don’t see any difference in the way they treat me,” said Kwan. “I might see them in some other places. I went to Winter Park last weekend and they had this little celebrity thing, and a couple of the guys said, ‘I go to DU, too! Yeah, man!’ I mean, I’ve never seen them before but I get little things like that. It’s funny.”

Kwan says that the most frequently asked question about her returning to school is if her professors have been giving her any benefits for being such a high-profile student.

“When I go to class, I get no special treatment,” said Kwan. “That’s a question that a lot of people ask me, but I really don’t.'”

Becoming just a regular student has been a very enjoyable thing for Kwan, who likes the freedom and social aspects that come with going to college.

“The social life [of college] is great,” Kwan said. “You get to do a lot of different things. For me it’s been a big change, because its always been, ‘I don’t have time.'”

She says that in her second time going to college, things have been much different.

“When I was first in school [at UCLA], I had no time. People would do study groups and I never could go to them. I always had something to do, like a competition. I didn’t have a chance to really experience the college life. Now I can afford the time to do it,” said Kwan.

Kwan has already done her part in becoming a more typical DU student. One of the first things that she did after her surgery was learning to snowboard.

“Once I got off crutches, the first thing that I did was buy a snowboard,” said Kwan. “Las week, I went and bought my first ski boots.”

Kwan, who never had time for things like snowboarding while she was competing, is now taking full advantage of free time and proximity to the mountains.

“I have been hard core snowboarding,” joked Kwan of her new sport. “I have done it like nine times, I think. That’s huge for me! Before, I could never try it, because it was like, ‘Oh, you are going to get injured.’… But now I’ m telling my doctors and physical therapists that I am just going to go and hit the slopes for a couple of hours.”

Though this may not be the training plan that her trainers had hoped for after her surgery, Kwan said that she has been enjoying herself and has not been doing much training for skating.

“The first quarter was really hard. I took a lot of credits, for me,” she said. “I was doing a lot of homework, so I didn’t focus a lot on getting stronger or any of the physical stuff really. But, hopefully, [spring] quarter and this August, I am going to focus on skating more and training every day.”

With the many things that Kwan has been doing lately, it has been hard for her to find time to train. But, she feels that she has been doing many more valuable things with her time, including a new job.

“I am working now with the State Department as an American Public Diplomacy Envoy, which is a mouthful,” she said. “It really does apply directly with what I am learning in school, so that is fun.”

She had her first assignment with the State Department just recently.

“I went to China for two weeks and talked to schools just to encourage them and motivate them,” said Kwan. “I told them my story, how it feels to be born and raised Chinese American and how it feels to dream and have your dreams come true. It was sort of to inspire them.”

Kwan said that she really enjoyed her first duty with the State Department and is looking into doing more.

She said, “Our secretary Karen Hughes wants me to travel to other places. So we will see, maybe the summer time. It will be interesting.”

While her other pursuits have been taking up much of her time, Kwan hasn’t eliminated the possibility of a return to the ice, and maybe even another try at an Olympic gold medal.

“I talked to [longtime friend Brian Boitano] and asked, ‘How do you know when you are done?’ and he said ‘You just know. You get to a point that you just know.'” said Kwan. “And I haven’t had that time yet, where I have been like, ‘I’m done. I need to hang up my skates.'”

After finishing out of a medal spot in just seven events from 1994-2005, Kwan had become the face of women’s figure skating. However, the only championship that eluded her was the Olympic gold medal; something that she says has been a disappointment.

“No one ever dreams of getting second or third,” said Kwan of her Olympic silver and bronze medals. “It’s like that one place, that one spot, the only spot that I’ve never been. It’s like saying that I have been all around the world but I have never been to Kansas City.

“I feel like maybe I can in the future, or maybe it won’t be that important later on. As time goes, your priorities change. To me, I see myself in a position where I can do it if I really want to.”

Kwan said that the 2006 Olympics were immensely disappointing to her and her family, but Kwan hasn’t ruled out the possibility of competing in 2010.

“Since 2002, it’s really been up in the air. There are so many things that I want to do in my life and put it on hold,” said Kwan. “I have wanted to go back to school. I want to do this with the State Department, so it’s a matter of what your priority is. And at this time I really can’t make a decision, either way, for what is going to happen in three years from now.”

For now, just like her fellow classmates, Kwan’s main goal is to finish out this school year and do as well as she can in her classes.

“So far, I’ve been doing OK,” said Kwan of her academics. “It’s just such a different life…Yesterday, I was in the library for five hours, I don’t think that I have done so much sitting in my life. Because I have always been here and there doing things, I am naturally a spaz. It’s been a change for sure.”

Though it may be hard to see the similarities between the average DU student and an athlete whose best memory in her career is receiving a standing ovation from 24,000 people when she was 13 years old, Kwan sees herself as just another student.

She is trying to take advantage of this unique time in her life, just like all other students.

“I love it,” said Kwan of her time so far at DU. “It has been a great experience for me.”