New Kids on the Block is a recurring series featuring student-athletes that are new to UTRGV this year to allow everyone to get to know the next generation of Vaqueros.
 
Name: Randal Garza
Sport: Baseball
 
1. Where are you from?
I am from Alice Texas, born and raised.
 
2. What was it like growing up there? 
Small community and not much to do. Growing up, everyone knows who you are and because of that, I have made a lot of friends that I consider family.
 
3. What is your favorite childhood memory? 
Winning a summer baseball World Series in Omaha Nebraska when I was 13 years old.
 
4. What's was your go-to food as a kid? Is it the same now? 
My go to food when I was little was Chinese food from a restaurant named "Panda." As the years passed, the restaurant closed and therefore my go-to food is now "Whataburger."
 
5. What's your favorite book? 
My favorite book series growing up was J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
 
6. What was your favorite TV show as a kid? What about now? 
My favorite TV show as a young kid growing up was "WWE Monday Night Raw." Now, as I am older, my favorite TV show is "Friends."
 
7. What's your favorite movie? 
My favorite movies are a tie between the three Lord of the Rings movies and the four Toy Story movies.
 
8. Who is your favorite musical artist/group? 
My favorite musical artist is The King of Country, George Strait.
 
9. Who is your favorite celebrity (non-sports)? 
My favorite celebrity would have to be Tom Hanks because he was the voice to one of the best cartoon characters in my opinion, Woody the Cowboy.
 
10. Other than the sport in which you compete, what is your favorite sport? 
Other than baseball, my favorite sport to play is golf.
 
11. What are your favorite professional sports teams? 
My favorite professional sports teams are the Dallas Cowboys and the Houston Astros.
 
12. How did you become a fan of those teams? 
Growing up, every Sunday when the Dallas Cowboys would play, my dad always had me watching their games with him. My dad is a big Dallas Cowboys fan and many boys want to grow up to be like their father, so that is how I became a fan of their franchise and it has stuck ever since. It is like a father and son bond we shared and always will share. 
 
13. Who are your favorite professional athletes and why?
My favorite professional athlete is Tiger Woods. Just like the Cowboys, my dad had me watching his favorite golfer finish up a golf tournament on Sunday's. Seeing what he has accomplished throughout his career and the amount of determination he had to come back from his injuries even after being told he would never play golf or be back to himself again, and then coming back to win the master's was breathtaking and is all the reason why he is my favorite athlete.
 
14. If you weren't competing in your sport, what would you be doing? 
If I were not competing in baseball, I would continue to get my education to become a physical therapist.
 
15. Why did you choose your sport? 
I chose baseball because I knew I had a future in the sport. I started throwing the ball and hitting the baseball when I was in pampers. My dad would always take me out and play ball with me from the moment I started walking. After all the years of playing ball with my dad, the passion kind of grew on me and I knew at an early age that I wanted to be the best player I could be to make my dad proud.
 
16. What is the biggest challenge of being a student-athlete? 
The biggest challenge of being a student-athlete is managing time and your classes. For the most part, all the athlete's time is consumed being on the field, court, track, or course. Managing that and making sure you have the time to study for a major exam can get tough if one does not know how to manage their time.
 
17. When you have free time, what do you like to do? 
During my free time, I like to either play golf with my dad, go fishing, or go to the ranch and hunt.
 
18. What brought you to UTRGV? 
Being close to home, having a great medical school, and having the opportunity to join a great baseball program are all reasons on why I am at UTRGV.
 
19. What are your major/minor/planned areas of study? 
I am majoring in health with a minor in kinesiology. I am studying to become a physical therapist.
 
20. What do you want to do after you graduate? 
After I graduate, I would like to either continue my baseball career as a professional or become a sports physical therapist.
 
21. What's your dream job? 
My dream job is to be a professional pitcher in the big leagues.
 
22. Who is the biggest inspiration in your life and why? 
The biggest inspiration in my life is my father. He is the reason I am the man I am today and has always set the greatest examples for me to follow. He has always wanted what is best for me and supported everything I have done with all his heart. I hope that one day when I get older, I can be the same inspiration to my children as my dad is to me.
 
25. What is something most people don't know about you? 
Many people do not know that I graduated my high school as the class salutatorian.
 
26. Which New Kids on the Block song best describes you?
A. Games
B. Hangin' Tough
C. Step by Step
D. You Got It
E. Other __________________
 
26. Now be honest, had you ever previously heard of any of those songs or the band New Kids on the Block before?
I have never heard any of these songs or of the band. I had to ask my mother what this band was about.

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