Born and raised in Nova Trento, a small town surrounded by green and mountains and highly influenced by its Italian roots in the south area of Brazil, I grew up in a family of 5 with my lovely parents and lovely (most of the time) siblings. We also had the company of a unique black Poodle, Billy, who sadly passed away last January after more than 10 years with us.
My name is Juliana Tomasoni. I currently live in the craziness of New Orleans, where I finished college in 2018 and decided to stay a little longer before going somewhere else. I came to The United States in 2014 to study and play volleyball for a university. I attended Langston University, in Oklahoma, my freshman year. Junior year I transferred to Northeastern A&M College, a junior college located in Miami, not in Florida, but still in Oklahoma, where I got my Associate Degree in Arts. Then I finally moved to The Big Easy to attend Xavier University of Louisiana and get my degree in Mass Communications.
Volleyball brought me here. It has always been part of my life, since I started playing back home when I was 5. When I was offered a scholarship to come to the States to play and study, I couldn’t refuse it. I embraced the challenge, being totally aware of how hard it could be and left behind the safety from home, all the familiar faces and places, friends and family, with the goal of getting out of my comfort zone to see and learn on my own.
It has been an endless learning experience since the day I left Nova Trento. As much as I love everything back there and my unmeasured love for my family, being by myself in a different space has allowed me to grown as a person and get to know me better every day, something I felt it wasn’t going to happen if I didn’t try anything different.
