LAKELAND, Fla.- Some people are able to pick up a new skill, job, or sport naturally with minimal effort. This often frustrates most of the general population who is unable to do so. However, for Southeastern University freshman goalkeeper
Carlos Curado, he has removed the ceiling from what he is capable of mastering thanks to a high work ethic and an incredible amount of discipline.
Curado was born in Recife, Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country. However, due to his parent's Eduardo and Cynthia's work as public servants, Carlos and his family moved to Brasilia, the nation's capital, where he spent the first 11 years of his life. At 11, Curado and his family relocated back to Recife where he spent the rest of his adolescence.
While in Brasilia, his father Eduardo put him in a plethora of sports. Carlos competed in soccer, swimming, volleyball, basketball, tennis, and judo. Curado competed in all these sports at the same time, due to there being no set sport's seasons in Brazil. Despite the doors soccer would eventually open up for him at the club and collegiate level, it was judo that Curado experienced the most exposure at a young age.
Curado quickly soared to the top of the youth judo scene in Brazil. At 11 years old, he had to be moved up to face 15 year olds due to his size and advanced skill. That same year, Curado competed in the Brazilian International Judo Cup, going into the experience mostly for the fun of it. However, Carlos ended up winning the championship for his age division.
Eventually, Carlos retired from judo to focus on soccer after moving back to Recife, where he experienced success at the club level.
Curado also established a high standard of achievement for himself academically. Upon graduating from high school, Carlos was admitted to law school in Brazil. While studying law at night and playing club soccer during the day, Curado still found time to excel in his studies. One of the top of his class in sports law, Carlos was named the General Secretary of Sports Law for Fut7, an indoor soccer organization in the state of Pernambuco. At 20 years old, he was the youngest person to ever hold this position.
Although Curado realized he was skilled in law, he also realized this was not where his true passions lied. Upon researching ways to invest the money he was making in law, he discovered the complexities of the financial market, which struck an interest.
"I took a course about being financially independent and it blew my mind," recalled Curado. "Before I knew it I was studying finance way more than law."
Curado began listening to financial podcasts, reading numerous books, and taking other courses, which he still does to this day. In fact before I sat down with him for this interview he was taking a Microsoft Excel certification exam to help his financial planning skills, which he passed.
During the Brazil Truck Driver's Strike of 2018, stores began closing down and gas prices soared. It was during this time when Carlos looked at coming to the United States to advance his education and play college soccer. In his research, Southeastern was always a top choice.
"I looked into every men's soccer country in this country and Southeastern was my top option," mentioned Curado.
Upon arriving at Southeastern in the fall of 2019, Curado was able to pursue his passions in the classroom, as he declared finance as his major.
If you needed any more reason to view Curado as something of a renaissance man, he also has a knack for the culinary arts. Carlos is a certified sushi chef, a title he had to work countless hours to achieve.
"I was terrible in the kitchen but I wanted to get better," stated Curado. "So I began researching online and started taking the courses to become a sushi chef and now I could work in a restaurant preparing sushi."
The amount of precision required to prepare sushi in a manner that is both safe and satisfying is insane. Curado rattled off the precise temperatures of the fish and the way the rice must be handled and prepared. Tackling a culinary art form like sushi would be daunting for most, but not for Curado. Which may lead you to ask: How is he so good at everything he does? For Carlos, it is all about hard work and determination.
"I don't accept someone telling me I won't be able to learn something," commented Curado. "I do a lot of research and have to work hard. I was not born with natural talent or ability. I have had to work my way up to becoming great in anything I do."
Carlos cites that he never does anything, whether it be prepare sushi for someone, offer financial advice, or perform a certain save in a soccer match unless he has done it 1,000 times in practice. This is a level of discipline that he learned from one of his key influences, the late Kobe Bryant.
"I never tell someone I can do something without having done it 1,000 times by myself. Others might look at me and think what I'm doing is easy, but it's not, it's just that I've had to work hard," remarked Curado.
Along with his parents, Carlos also cites his grandfather Vaudrilo, who was a philosopher and law school professor, Ayrton Senna, a Brazilian formula one racecar driver, and Magrão, Brazilian goalkeeper who played for Sport Recife, the same football club that Carlos played for as his greatest influences in life.
When it comes to forming disciplines, being a part of the SEU community has also helped Carlos grow spiritually, specifically in vulnerability with God and others. Curado did not know Southeastern was a Christian school when he agreed to come, but quickly saw how the soccer team and the rest of the campus community was unlike anything he had ever been a part of.
"I have never been a part of a team where guys actually cared about each other. This past year, I know that any of the guys would be there for me if I had a problem off the field," remarked Curado. "I have made lifelong friends just in eight months of being here and I am so much more open with others than I used to be. Everyone I meet even outside of soccer is so helpful."
Curado has also grown in a more personal view of God since being a part of the Fire family.
"I used to view God as a distant being. To talk to Him was super hard and to worship Him was complicated," mentioned Curado. "But since I got to Southeastern, I now see God as my best friend and someone I can talk to like I am talking to you right now. I understand more who God is and my faith has strengthened more in the last eight months of being here than in my whole life before."
As Curado's faith in God has strengthened, so has his desire to use his gifts to help others. Carlos does not see the things he has mastered as self-serving, but simply as a means to help those in need. One of his greatest dreams is to be a financial planner who helps families in need set and achieve their goals and dreams.
"My father always worked for others first, whether it was my mom, his children, or his friends and neighbors," remembered Curado. "I want to do the same thing with my life."
Carlos Curado is one of the most ambitious individuals I have had the pleasure of meeting. However, his ambition is not simply constrained to his talk, it is backed up with a level of discipline, research, and follow-through that is rare of today's generation. And it is those qualities that will allow Carlos to continue to achieve whatever he sets his mind to and help others achieve whatever dream they have.
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