SPORTS EDITOR – OTONIEL GONZALEZ
ORIGINALLY PRINTED ON APRIL 6, 2023
Daniel Gimena is the overachieving St. Mary’s men’s soccer team captain at just 21 years old. Originally from Denia, Spain, Gimena is a junior at St. Mary’s, double majoring in international business and international global studies. Gimena is also deeply involved in many activities within the university, working as an RA and as the vice president of the Student Athlete Advisory committee. Not content with just these accomplishments, Gimena is also a talented linguist— in fact, he is trilingual.
Gimena involved himself in activities from day one of his freshman year. Gimena joined SAD in his freshman year, and as a sophomore, he started working as a tutor in the rattler success center. In the Fall of 2022, he accepted the role of vice president in SAD. He also became a peer mentor of the rattler success center. Gimena points out that all these activities require “great organization and time management skills.”
Gimena’s deep involvement in athletics is little surprise. Gimena has played sports since he was a kid; he used to participate in triathlons and started playing soccer in elementary school. Today, he plays midfield and loves to be the one setting the game’s tempo. Like any soccer fan, his biggest idols are Cristiano and Messi. However, he also looks up to players like Modric Xavi, Xabi Alonso and Zidane. Gimena’s biggest strength in the field is his physical condition. Given his background and previous competitions in triathlons, he has a physical advantage over his opponents. He plays at a faster rhythm and keeps aggressive pressure throughout the entire game.
Gimena’s incredible capacity to learn and perform well goes beyond what happens on the soccer field. Gimena speaks seven languages and is eager to keep learning. He grew up speaking Spanish and German since his mother is from Germany. At the same time, he learned English in school. After he graduated high school, Gimena took a gap year and used some of that time to learn French. As part of his curriculum here at St. Mary’s, he took Portuguese courses as a second language. He also speaks Valenciano, which is like Catalan.
Speaking many languages can be tricky. Gimena shares that sometimes he combines English and German and on occasion, when conversing with friends, he starts using German since it has plenty of similarities. This experience of learning all these languages has helped Gimena see people differently. It has helped him see beyond a person’s nationality and interact with them with fewer barriers. Gimena shares that it “is not just about learning the words and understanding them, but to comprehend why they speak that way, why they act in a particular way.” It is possible to see that in Latin America. Most countries have Spanish as their first language, but each culture shapes the language differently. “We all speak the same language, and sometimes we don’t even understand what the other is saying,” Daniel shared. Learning another language allows one to respect other people’s cultures as well. The capacity to speak various languages opens doors to new opportunities; many jobs become available to an individual if they speak different languages. Gimena points out that in his journey of learning all these languages, he realized that making mistakes is okay. When learning a new language, it is common to mispronounce words and make a lot of errors. Daniel shared that “understanding that you are allowed to make mistakes and learn from them” will help you in life. Gimena also looks out for the student athletes here at St. Mary’s University. As vice-president of the SAD, he tries to look out for the interests of the athletes, what has to change, how to help teachers adapt to the athletes’ schedule, how to be a better trainer, etc. He also helps the president find resources to coordinate activities that interest each athlete. Gimena also works as an RA for residence life. He enjoys his job and meeting new people from different countries. In addition, being an RA allows him to help his parents with the university costs.
All these activities require a great level of organization on his part. Without the ability to sort out a schedule, it would be impossible to get everything done. Gimena tries to sort out his activities the day before to be more productive. He has learned that “anything can change at any moment; it is important to flow with it and not stress out.
Gimena will be a senior in the next academic year. His main goal for his last year is to have fun and enjoy time with his friends. He wants to get the most out of the soccer season and hopefully win another conference championship. His best memories from college are the trips to New York, New Mexico, El Salvador, and other places where he goes to enjoy and have fun with his friends. One of the memories that he treasures the most is the historic season on Fall 2022. Gimena wishes to keep growing his relationships with his friends and hopes to keep these relationships after graduation.