Valentina Lorente-Garcia is wrapping up her senior year on the gymnastics team and as a dance major at Mason Gross
Valentina Lorente-Garcia came to America with a dream. Turned out reality was even better.
Since the age of 3, Lorente-Garcia wanted to become a world-class gymnast. As she worked toward that goal, she found a second love in dance, but her focus remained on following her first dream.
By age 12, she had made the Argentinian National Team, competed in Pan American tournaments and South American club championships.
But when she found her way to Rutgers to compete for a Big Ten women's gymnastics team, she found her dreams could come true more than once: Rutgers had a major in dance.
"I didn't know majoring in dance was even a thing!" When I got in," she said, "it was like, "insane."
Now a senior at Rutgers, Lorente-Garcia has returned to competition after missing a season due to injury. Before being sidelined she scored career highs in bars (9.900) and vault (9.825). Her success at Rutgers extends off the mat: As a freshman she was a Women's College Gymnastics Scholastic All-America and during her sophomore year she was an Academic All-Big Ten selection, which recognizes athletes with a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
Lorente-Garcia and her parents came to the United States from Argentina eight years ago to pursue opportunities in her sport. She was 14, and already a standout gymnast.
"My parents moved here with the goal of me finding schools and doing college gymnastics," the 22-year-old said. "So my family basically moved to support my dreams."
Settling in Virginia with the help of a friend of her father, she continued to excel on the mat, although learning a new language was difficult. Struggling with the transition, she repeated eighth grade.
"It was a very slow process. Very difficult," she said. "Basically, I learned by listening to others. I couldn't really speak English for like three years. I couldn't say a word. I was so embarrassed. But little by little it started happening. It was like I was pushed into a pool and forced to learn how to swim."
Throughout all this, the grind, the pressure, began to take its toll in the form of panic attacks.
"Emotionally it was a hard period. At one point I almost quit gymnastics," she said. "Eventually I began to feel better and better and returned to showcases and Nationals and Regionals.''
Noticed by a Rutgers assistant during a showcase in Virginia, Valentina decided to attend a one-day camp in New Jersey while a senior in high school. She met the coaches, mingled with the players and headed back home. One week later she was offered a full scholarship and discovered the opportunity to simultaneously major in dance at the Mason Gross School of the Arts.
The two activities would emerge to present similar physical and emotional aspects. While she had performed numerous times at gymnastics meets, she had never performed to an audience as a dancer.
"I started to realize how much different and how similar they could be," she said. "There are a lot of techniques I use to calm myself for gymnastics, and then I began to use similar techniques before performances in theaters. Similar thoughts go through my mind with both. Similar, but very different at the same time. Was I more nervous from one than the other? No. I was equally nervous because of performing under pressure. In both I'm having fun, but in both there are risks."
Lorente-Garcia's skill impressed Barbara Angeline, an assistant professor in the Dance Department at Mason Gross.
"I had the pleasure of teaching Valentina in Jazz Dance. Her talent was unquestionable,'' Angeline said. "No matter what type of dancing we did, she met each challenge with excitement, energy and expertise. I would say her facility for dance was surpassed only by the absolute sunshine of her personality and generosity. She is a beautiful human.''
Lorente-Garcia also continued doing volunteer work, including Elijah's's Promise, Read Across America, as well as YMCA programs working with children with disabilities.
She's followed in her parents' footsteps. Her father has volunteered with a church community, and like her mother she enjoys assisting the elderly. She had volunteered working with disabled children in Virginia before experiencing that in New Jersey.
"Working with the disabled is especially rewarding, even if they're taking a really tiny step," she said, having assisted youngsters ages 4-14. "They probably don't have that experience anywhere else. When they get in the gym they want to be seen. It's like, 'watch me do this, watch me do that.' They want to feel special, and that's how you want them to feel.
"I get a deep sense of fulfilment from volunteer work because it allows me to give back, to connect with people and really feel grounded."
"She's a firecracker," head coach Anastasia Candia said. "She has a lot of energy; always smiling. She is someone genuinely kind and wants the best for everyone around her. She's super involved with dancing, and the youth. She can showcase her personality, which elevates her scoring potential. She's choreographed about 80 percent of our floor routines."
As for her future, there is certainly more than one option.
One is being a professional dancer, or, perhaps, going into coaching gymnastics. And with one of her minors in Journalism, don't rule out a career in that field.
"I'm very interested in working in journalism, especially sports," she said. "Broadcasting, radio, podcasting, hosting, or social media."
Lorente-Garcia isn't shooting for the Olympics but with her future remains open. If you don't see her on ESPN, don't be surprised if one day she's on a billboard for dancing at a place like Lincoln Center.
Whatever she chooses, performance will be the common thread.
