The Montverde Academy tennis team continues to take great measures in ensuring the MVA tennis athletes are achieving their athletic goals during the COVID 19 preventative measures. Last week, the team hosted special guest speaker and MVA alumna Mariah Bastos '16 in a zoom conference call. 

During the meeting, Bastos shared her past experiences at MVA and her time competing at the tennis academy.  On her 16th birthday, Bastos visited MVA for the first time with her parents and it was the perfect match. Seeing a great tennis program and visiting a beautiful campus, Bastos wanted to enroll at the academy not only to excel in athletics but also in her academics. Four months later, she finally enrolled at MVA and on her first day arriving on campus, Head Tennis Coach Jaime Oncins and his son Lucas introduced themselves to Bastos and introduced her to the tennis team. 

"I was surprised how quickly I was able to make friends there [Montverde]," said Bastos. "As a student, I found out that there were many kids in the same situation as me and we had a lot in common. Montverde became my home away from home and the students and staff became my second family.

After graduating from MVA, Bastos decided to join a division III tennis program at Huntingdon College. She later transferred to St. Thomas in Miami where she is graduating this spring, majoring in Science of Data Analytics.

"Montverde made me the person I am today, I have learned many life lessons there that I know I wouldn't have learned back in Brazil. For that, I will be forever grateful," said Bastos.