Model by day, mortician by night?

Tatianna says she’s hoping to pursue both of her loves now that she’s been eliminated from “America’s Next Top Model,” even though she knows it’s quite an unusual combination. 

“Everyone’s like, ‘How can you possibly balance those two things?’ But definitely being a medical examiner is a night job,” says the 21-year-old student from Ewa Beach, Hawaii, with a laugh.

Although she dropped out of school to compete on “ANTM,” Tatianna has since returned and is nearing completion of her undergraduate degree. Becoming a medical examiner involves going to med school and doing a residency, so in the meantime, she volunteers at the mortuary to get used to seeing dead bodies.

“I told them I’d help them embalm, I’d watch them cremate, see what happens with the anatomy so I feel comfortable,” says Tatianna.

“I’m not particularly sure why (I’m fascinated with) the dead bodies but as far as microbiology, I’ve had the passion since about 10th grade.”

She can’t say the same thing for modeling, which she only recently fell in love with.

Tatianna, who had no prior experience, was prompted to audition after a complete stranger came up to her in the mall and told her about the “ANTM” auditions taking place that day.

The next thing she knew she had made it onto the show and was thrust into a world she knew nothing about.

“It was ultra overwhelming because I didn’t know what to say … I got cold feet for a couple days and was like, ‘I can’t do it, I’m not confident enough, I don’t have the experience, all these other girls are going to blow me away and I’m just going to be embarrassed.’”

But Tatianna blew everyone – including herself – away at the first photo shoot that required the girls to pose nude with only one item of clothing, in her case, a scarf.

She was also right at home posing in a bathtub of blood (not surprisingly) for a vampire photo shoot later in the competition, but lost some of that confidence during the most recent faux fashion photo shoot in New York City’s garment district.

During the judging panel, host Tyra Banks noted it took a long time to find a good photo in Tatianna’s film and thought it might just be luck when she finally did produce a good picture.  

“Coming from no modeling experience, it’s really difficult to pull something out because I don’t really know what I’m doing so to hear her say I had one good photo … was like amazing to me.”

Tatianna isn’t the least bit discouraged by her elimination and instead is going to take all the positive feedback she did receive to become a stronger model.

“I’ve been trying to take their critique internally and change in ways to make myself more versatile. It’s been working – I agree that I’m photogenic now, which I didn’t agree with before,” she says.

“The show’s given me a lot of exposure so I’m hoping an agency will see that and want (to represent) me.”