Tatiana Carvalho '22 Recruiting Profile

My name is Tatiana Carvalho, I am a 5’0 libero/ds and currently a junior at Heritage High School in Brentwood, CA. I started my volleyball journey when I was 11 years old when a few of my friends that already played volleyball told me I should try out for the girls 6th grade team.  I ended up making the team, and  had so much fun during the season learning so much from my coach and the other girls on my team. I initially tried out for that 6th grade team just for fun, but I ended up loving the sport and decided to take it seriously during my 8th grade year after my family moved which kept me out of volleyball for 7th grade school season. I started playing club as a freshman, in just one season full of hard work and dedication, I developed my skills tremendously. I played on my high school’s junior varsity team my sophomore year and my team and I were very driven and extremely competitive. We trained everyday after school pushing ourselves to be the best players and excel in our positions while still focusing on our academics.

As an athlete, I am very dedicated, hard working, and competitive. I push myself daily to become better at my position and help my teammates grow as players as well. I have been working out and weight lifting for almost 2 years to become stronger and help develop my skills even further. Since we are in quarantine and everything is closed, I practice my ball control and skills by passing/setting to myself or against a wall and my dad and I also train together to practice my digs, passing, and serving. 

I have completely fallen in love with the sport and every aspect of it including being able to build such strong bonds with my teammates, working together through long and grueling practices. Also, playing in extremely intense and stressful matches, pushing each other to become better everyday and making the best memories through it all are parts of my love for the game.

While working hard on the court, I work just as hard in the classroom to maintain my 3.7 GPA. My ultimate goal is to attend a college where I can play volleyball at a competitive level while also working hard to obtain my degree in Pediatric Nursing. My love for babies has led me to want to be able to care for those who cannot care for themselves. I have always loved kids since I was a kid myself, I have many cousins so I learned how to take care of kids at a very young age. When I was about 9 years old, my grandpa was diagnosed with leukemia. We spent many days at the hospital and we grew close relationships with his nurses. Sometimes they would involve me and let me get everything ready to start his IV and would teach me how to flush his IV and I thought it was so interesting. This personal experience led me to want to become a nurse but I was still little so I didn’t know what type of nurse. As I got older and started thinking more about what career I wanted to pursue. My parents mentioned that since I love babies and nursing, I should look into becoming a Pediatrician or Pediatric Nurse. I did a lot of research about Pediatrics and I would love to be able to achieve my dream of becoming a Pediatric Nurse.