BC01: MATEO ORMEÑO [DECEASED]

#1

DECEASED

Name: Mateo Navarro Ormeño
Gender: Male
Age: 17
Grade: 12 (Senior)
Hobbies and Interests: Music (Acoustic Guitar), Tennis, Reading Manga and Fanfics, Travelling, Watching SOTF-TV seasons

Appearance: Mateo's body size is quite average compared to his peers, as he stands at 5’9” and weighs about 156 lbs. His skin tone is slightly tanned and has a clear complexion of bronze, which comes from his Hispanic heritage. His face resembles an inverted triangle shape, and a pointed chin, which fits well with his slightly lean body build. His most remarkable feature, however, is the dimples on the sides of his cheeks whenever he smiles.

Mateo’s hair is a shade of chocolate brown, which is much darker compared to his skin tone. His hair was cut short and fading on the back and the sides, with his fringe being curled and swept up to the top. His eyes are medium-sized and dark brown, and he has a long, sharp nose.

Mateo is pretty aware of the current fashion and is always trying to follow the latest trends in terms of clothing. His wardrobe is a mix of streetwear, casual wear, and a few suits for formal meetings. On the day he was selected, he was wearing a black wave bucket hat, a necklace with a silver crucifix, a white T-Shirt, his favorite dark blue denim slim jacket, black jeans, and a pair of white sneakers.

Biography: Mateo Reyes was born on October 30th, 2004 in a small neighborhood in Miami, Florida. He is the third child to Gabriel Navarro and Lucia Reyes, two immigrants who married four years ago after meeting each other in their previous work. After moving to Miami to pursue a better lifestyle, Gabriel continues his previous job in Chile and works as an architect, while Lucia decided to switch careers from a construction manager to an interior designer. Mateo also has an elder sister, Melanie (20), and an elder brother, Ezequiel (18). Though Mateo gets along well with his family, he is much closer to Ezequiel, most likely due to the small age gap.

When Mateo was a child, both Gabriel and Lucia were too busy with their jobs to take care of the children, as they were still financially struggling. As a result, Mateo, along with his siblings, was sent to a nearby kindergarten when their parents went to work. At first, Mateo came off as a shy and quiet kid around the others. But after being there for a few months socializing with kids the same age, along with the encouragement from his siblings, who are more socially active, he started to realize the importance of making close connections and being nice and kind as a person.

In his childhood, Mateo’s parents had a hard time trying to give the same level of care and attention to all three children at the same time. With Melanie starting elementary school not long after Mateo was joining kindergarten, Mateo spent most of his time around Ezequiel. They usually played around during recess or hanging out with the other kids. When he was alone, however, he would read some storybooks to make use of his free time. He enjoys imagining himself being in the fictional world, and would mostly end up absorbing himself too much into the story he’s reading.

The elementary year was pretty mediocre for him. His kind and warm nature had earned him a wide range of friends in school. However, he seemed to be struggling academically, with most of his grades being between B to C-, and a few D’s occasionally. He had a hard time focusing in class, where he sometimes ended up spacing out or sleeping when the teacher was explaining a topic. This led to him being seen as a ‘problem student’ for not paying attention in class, leading him to a few lectures and sometimes, detention. Sooner or later, in the middle of his elementary years, he nearly gave up, claiming that he was not interested in the current syllabus. This led to a lot of conflicts between him and his parents, but realizing that failing a grade would mean that he would have to retake the entire year, he managed to work hard in his studies, but was only able to maintain his grades.

Just as Mateo seemed to be lost in his parents’ dreams to be a successful engineer and the harsh academical demand, his view towards the world changed when he was in Grade 5, when Ezequiel saved enough money for himself to buy an acoustic guitar. By that time, Ezequiel was heavily interested in playing the guitar as he was an avid fan of acoustic covers. However, despite his early interest in learning the guitar, Ezequiel soon gave up after finding the drum more interesting to play. Seeing that it would be a waste throwing the guitar away, Mateo decided to take over the guitar from Ezequiel instead. Since his family could not afford a guitar lesson by that time, Mateo learned a few songs online, which he managed to pick up easily. This embarked on his interest in music and, although only learning through online courses from Youtube, he is able to play the guitar well. Though his interest in music grew, he never intends to perform on a stage, since he does not feel confident enough to perform live on a platform with everyone watching. When he started high school, after getting some motivation from Ezequiel, who usually listens to him playing the guitar, he finally gain enough courage to create a Soundcloud account so he can share his covers there. When he is free, he would record an acoustic cover and post it there to share his love for music with his audience. Though he does not have too many followers, his channel is growing slowly.

When he started middle school, his family’s financial issue started stabilizing, with Gabriel and Lucia both getting promotions in their respective careers along the way. This is when Mateo started his interest in tennis when his parents gifted him a tennis racket on his 13th birthday. He usually would play tennis with Ezequiel or some of his classmates when he’s free, and eventually got into his school’s Tennis Club. However, he quit shortly after realizing he only see tennis as a hobby and did not want to participate in any tournaments. He still often plays tennis during high school, but with the amount of schoolwork, it became less frequent.

After he completed middle school, Mateo chose to enroll in Mangrove Garden, as he heard about their good reputation and their previous achievements in music. Knowing that a qualification from an entrance test is required to enroll in Mangrove Garden, he started reviewing and studying previous materials from his middle school, while also looking for online tutorials for any topics he is unsure of. However, he did not pass the entrance test. Although his parents were able to afford the tuition fees, Mateo felt a bit of guilt for unable to help out too much. It was then he realized the importance of grades, and hence he started revising regularly after joining high school. Though his grades are still somewhere around average, and his rankings are still below the average tier, he is improving slowly with every test.

Whenever he feels like slacking off, however, Mateo would read some online fictions and manga through his phone. He usually prefers comedy stories, as it acts well as a stress reliever. Recently, he also grows a liking for watching travel vlogs on YouTube. He is curious about how is the lifestyle of people from other countries and their culture. Though he never travels to other countries, he hopes that he can do it in the near future by visiting nearby countries such as Mexico or Canada.

Mateo's view of SOTF-TV is somewhat mixed. He first knew about it from a friend in middle school and has been binging on SOTF-TV seasons whenever he is free. Although he does not like the gore and violent elements in the show, the relationship, events, and drama between the participants draw his attention. Though he considers himself a fan of SOTF-TV and does discuss the show frequently with his friends, he cannot imagine himself participating in the show, mainly thinking that he will probably be the first few to die.

Currently, his relationship with his parents is still close, as he usually would join his family for meals and outings. He rarely meets Melanie, however, after she moved out to Connecticut to pursue a degree certificate for Dental Hygiene. However, they would sometimes contact each other by phone calls and text messages, talking about their current lifestyles and events that happened. They would also often talk about SOTF-TV, since Melanie is a huge fan of the show.

In school, he also has a large social circle due to his friendly and outgoing nature. While meeting someone new, he will try his best to start a conversation, while getting to know the person better. He is also a patient listener when listening to others' opinions about a certain topic while giving out a good response for it. He also tends to follow whatever is popular amongst his classmates, such as SOTF-TV, just so he can discuss with others easily when the show or trend comes up during a conversation.

Advantages: Due to him playing tennis as a hobby, Mateo has a high amount of stamina and can sprint at a fast pace. His good social skills make it easier for him to socialize with others and forming allies. He is also known to be a great listener.
Disadvantages: Despite his friendly attitude, Mateo can sometimes appear to be quite passive at times, as it usually requires a lot of motivation for him to do something. He also has a lack of confidence in general and does not seem to favor his chances in SOTF-TV.

Designated Number: BC01

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Designated Weapon: Megaphone

Mentor Comment: "We've got a contender here, but only if he can put his fears behind him and take control of the situation. Especially because we could use some, uh, social lubrication on this team. And that genie's kind of out of the bottle anyways, worrying about what people think. I mean, you sneeze on this show and people will write essays about what you decided to wipe your nose with.

No pressure of course, unless some pressure is needed to draw Mat's full potential out, in which case I say this with an adequate but not overbearing amount of pressure."

DECEASED