Inside the SDFC: Jack Hiemenz
The Sun devil Fitness Complex is full of talented student workers and I had the pleasure of conducting an interview with one of them. Jack Hiemenz is a senior going into his final semester. He works as a facilities manager at the SDFC and has a passion for golf and hockey. The golf club he is a part of just won a national tournament in Las Vegas. Like a lot of students at ASU, Jack left for his home state for the break and he was nice enough to give me some time of his day for a phone call. Here is what he had to say.
Julio: Can you tell me who you are and what do you do?
Jack H: I grew up in Minnesota. I came to ASU for a degree in business communication and mainly to play golf everyday because you can’t do that Minnesota. Now I’m just going to school at ASU, I love it out there and I’m looking for a job somewhere in the golf industry after graduation in the spring.
J: So you grew up playing golf?
JH: Yup. Golf and hockey mainly in Minnesota and them some other sports, but golf and hockey were the main ones. I fell in love with golf probably in the sixth grade and in seventh grade I actually made the high school golf team. So that was pretty cool, to be one of the younger kids playing at the high-school level.
J: What was that like? Playing at the high-school level, at such a young age.
JH: It was cool because I got to miss a lot of school [laughs]. So It’d be weird, I’d be with my friends in class and I’d tell them I have to leave and they’d ask me,”Where are you going?” I told them I had golf tournaments that I had to go to. It was cool to say, “Yeah I’m playing a high-school sport,” and, “You can compete with kids that are older than you.”
J: So, the golf club just won a national tournament in Las Vegas. What was that experience like?
JH: It was a bless. I’ve been to nationals every year since I’ve been a freshman at ASU. I’m a senior now and it was the first time we won. My freshman year we took second and my sophomore we finished in the top ten. My junior year everyone kinda played bad, but this year we had a good team and everyone played to their ability and that helped a lot. We’ve always had a pretty good team, we’re always winning our region, but for us to finally put everything together and show up when we needed to play good, was awesome. It was just a good feeling overall, because it was with a great group of guys and it’s just something that you’ll always remember.
J: That’s awesome. So for the past four years you guys have been working at it?
JH: Yup, exactly. We’ve had some new players on our team over the years, cause kids are graduating and this year we just had a good solid team that played good throughout the semester and hopefully that will transfer into next semester as well.
J: Alright, so these next few questions are to get to know you a little better. As of right now, what is your favorite movie and why?
JH: I’d probably go with Straight Outta Compton or Creed. I really like Creed because it’s a good sport movie and every time I watch it i just get fired up. Then with straight Outta Compton, I love rap music and country music, they’re kinda opposites, but I love rap and N.W.A has always been one of my favorite groups growing up. I thought the movie was really good, a lot of my friends liked it and we’ve watched it quite a bit. Good story, good plot line, it has everything.
J: Can you tell me something about yourself that not too many people know about?
JH: I’m very superstitious with things that I do, for instance, when I golf, If I’m playing good and I’m wearing a pull-over and it’s like 85 degrees out and I’m hot, I’ll keep the pull-over on until I start playing bad. Another thing I do is mark my golf balls the same way every time, it has to be perfect and if it’s not perfect I won’t use the golf ball. This is a really weird one too. When I golf I always have to have a piece of paper in my left pocket, I don’t know why, but it’s always been a thing I’ve done.
J: Have you done that since you were young?
JH: I think it started when i was in high school, like I usually get a Gatorade or a snack before a round and I’ll keep the receipt. I just always have to have something in my left pocket and I won’t touch until the end of the round. It’s kinda weird, it’s actually really weird, but I don’t know what it is I just have to have something in my pocket. I think golfers and hockey players are superstitious when they do things because I have a lot of weird things I did for hockey that were different than a lot of kids.
J: So you’re also a big fan of hockey, can you tell me what’s your favorite hockey team?
JH: I’m from Minnesota so I guess I’d say the Minnesota Wild, but my favorite hockey player is Alexander Ovechkin so probably the Washington Capitals. I like them a lot and I always root for them in the playoffs even though they never go far in the playoffs.
I’d like to thank Jack once again for giving up some of his time for the interview, I had a blast talking to him. There are more stories to tell and more students to meet. Be sure to check back with us as we dive deeper into student workers’ lives, Inside the SDFC.
- Julio
