Baseball | 5/26/2015 12:35:00 PM
SAN FRANCISCO--- SF State baseball player
Danny Souza was one of 12 hood recipients at this year's 114th San Francisco State University Commencement exercises that were held this past Friday, May 22 at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Its six academic colleges selected two graduating students -- one undergraduate and one graduate -- for the honor of representing their fellow students during the ceremony by wearing their College's academic hood.
Two hood recipients also offered their greetings on behalf of the Class of 2015. Eduardo Gonzalez, undergraduate hood for the College of Liberal & Creative Arts, spoke on behalf of the undergraduate class. Jonathan Brumfield, graduate hood for the College of Ethnic Studies, spoke on behalf of graduate students.
Danny Souza excelled at SF State as both an athlete and scholar. Talented at a variety of sports as a child, Souza became a competitive skier at age 10, participating in the Junior Olympics and traveling around the world to train and compete. He quit skiing competitively so he could play on his high school's baseball, basketball and football teams. Souza accepted a scholarship to play baseball at SF State and has been named to the prestigious California Collegiate Athletic Association All-Academic Team and the Capital One Academic All-District Baseball Team. He received his bachelor's degree in finance.
Souza has also served his teammates and community. As a freshman, he organized a fundraiser to help an injured teammate cover unexpected medical expenses. As treasurer of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, he helped manage community service events including the annual food drive and a dodgeball tournament to raise funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. He has also volunteered to tutor his teammates and other athletes.
During his collegiate career, Souza was a four-year letter-winner and a four-time Gator Scholar-Athlete. The son of Brad and Jake Souza played in over 120 games and had 56 hits of where 7 were for extra-base hits. The Benicia native also drove in 30 runs and scored 30 times. In his last game as a Gator, Souza was 1-for-3 while driving in three runs and scoring once in SF State's 7-2 win over nationally ranked Cal Poly Pomona.
While balancing a rigorous sports schedule with his academic life has been a challenge, Souza said, he couldn't imagine his college career any other way. "The competition is what drives me to do this every day -- it's what I love," Souza said. "I know someone's pushing me, and I'm pushing them, so we only get better."
Souza plans to pursue a career in finance, hoping to work as a financial agent for athletes, with the ultimate goal of becoming the CFO of a professional sports team.
Graduation VideoVideo presented at GraduationRelease on Graduation on www.sfsu.edu ---
Gator Athletics has a proud tradition of competitive success within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The department offers 12 intercollegiate sports programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball and Men's Wrestling.
