He’s on the swimming and water polo teams. He is a member of Interact, Historical Honor Society, Science Honor Society, and National Honor Society and is a very high academic achieving junior. Olvin Villatoro does it all.

Academics

   Maintaining an unweighted 3.9 and weighted 5.0 grade point average (GPA), Olvin has taken over eight Dual Enrollment and Advanced Placement classes here at Miami High, a school he says he came to because Coral Gables Senior High put him on their waiting list, but now says, “Looking back, I’m glad they did so.”

Olvin has also been a part of the Legal & Public Affairs Magnet since 9^th grade. “I had an interest in law at the time, and it was also a magnet program, my ticket to enter Miami High,” he says about why he joined. His favorite part of the program is going on the field trips, while the infamous weekly articles he has to do is his least favorite part of being in the law magnet.

He has learned many things in the program but recognizes the most important lesson of them all: “I’ve learned that everyone needs to know the law because there are many ways you can break it without realizing it or for stupid reasons.”

Olvin’s favorite and least favorite classes have something in common. “My favorite class is AP Chemistry, as long as I understand what’s going on. If anyone has taken it, they’d understand how good it feels to really understand each chapter,” he says. “My least favorite class, ironically, is also AP Chemistry. When you’re lost in this class, it’s horrible.”

Olvin has racked up many notable academic achievements. “The achievements I take the most pride in include my perfect 9th grade FCAT reading score, my 99th percentile PSAT score, and my recent ACT score of a 33,” he says.

Swimming & Water Polo

   What’s the difference anyways? “Water polo is a team sport, while swimming is mostly an individual sport. Water polo is to swimming what soccer is to track or cross country,” he said.

He joined swimming and water polo his freshman year at the urging of his friend Victor Ringgaard. In water polo, Olvin plays as a 2-meter defender, while running the point, and sometimes whole set.

“As a 2-meter defender,” he says, “I play defense usually against the opposing team’s biggest and most important offensive player, the whole set. As a point on offense, I share the responsibility of running our offense with another player and am also able to shoot some long shots.” Olvin likes everything about the sport, especially scoring a goal or shutting down the player he’s defending.

Although there aren’t any positions in swimming, there are different swim strokes and distances that different people may prefer. He says, “This swim season I came to enjoy the longest event, the 500 meter freestyle.”

Interact

Interested in service, Olvin is one of the secretaries for the Interact club where he is in charge of keeping the roster updated, keeping minutes during meetings while passing out a sign-in sheet, alerting members of upcoming events and service opportunities, and giving out community service hours.

Although Olvin loves everything about the club, he specifically likes the opportunities it gives for socializing. “My favorite part of Interact has to be when I spend time with the rest of the officers and the members because we really have fun, whether it be at service or during homecoming,” he said.

His least favorite duty is on those days that Interact has a big event coming up and he and Randy Lopez, the other secretary, have to individually text all of the members to let them know.

It isn’t easy to balance such a rigorous schedule. “I just break up my time. When I’m at water polo practice, I only think about water polo. When I study for an AP Chemistry exam, I focus on AP Chemistry. I deal with everything separately because trying to manage everything at the same time can drive me crazy, and I’ve been in situations where that’s what I’ve had to do. It led to sleepless nights and stressful days.”

Personal Life

Olvin Geovanny Villatoro was born in Miami on November 4^th, 1998, to Honduran parents, and has two younger brothers and a baby sister. He attended Kensington Park Elementary, Ponce de Leon Middle School, and has been at Miami High since 9^th grade. In his free time, he likes to hang out with his friends and teammates, watch Netflix, and play video games.

When asked what he wants to do when he grows up, Olvin was unsure. “I hate this question because I’m not exactly sure what I want to be. I just know that I want to do a lot,” he said. “If I had to choose, I think I want to take the business route because I want to be my own boss.”

Although he doesn’t have a dream college, Olvin is really interested in Stanford’s business program.