The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

Alumni Spotlight: Peter Gotting, YES Prep Southeast Class of 2005

February 21, 2012 by Tenesha Villanueva

Peter Gotting graduated from YES Prep Southeast in 2005.  He attended the University of St. Thomas where he majored in Environmental Studies and graduated in 2009.  Peter currently serves as a Community and Environmental Organizer for Texas Gulf Coast and will defend his Masters thesis in Community and Regional Planning from the University of New Mexico later this spring. 

Peter on his experience at YES Prep...

What is your favorite YES Prep memory?  

I honestly do not know which to choose. My seven years at YES Prep was full of so many defining or meaningful moments for me that I find it difficult to have a favorite. At the risk of sounding cheesy, some of the most special moments for me were school assemblies. Seeing everyone grouped together, all of our teachers, the excitement at award ceremonies, or sitting with your family and being rowdy (mine was the Trailblazers!), or getting pumped up for our athletic teams; I loved the catharsis, the energy, the feeling of shared mission. This would especially be the case in the early years, when YES Prep was still a project, and all the grade levels would congregate at the Guadalupe Plaza or cram into TBH. For me, this would have been all of my middle school years, and being close to the spirit and vision of YES Prep, as captured in these regular meetings, would invigorate and remind me of how special and lucky we all were to belong and be co-creators in this community; a special kind of struggle that I would share with years and years of people who would come after me and were with me at the time.

Name the teacher/staff member who had the greatest impact on you and why.

Mr. Bill Durbin. Preparing for Mr. Durbin’s classes, I always knew that I would be challenged – to really analyze and really be creative. Not just in language and writing, but also in my thinking. Mr. Durbin very often asked very hard questions. And I don’t really ever recall having a dialogue or conversation in his class where my opinion or framework went unchallenged. I couldn’t appreciate Mr. Durbin enough for his tenacity in the classroom, his sense of humor, and ongoing salience toward the big picture. With Mr. Durbin, a piece of literature wasn’t just a story but an expression of journey and discovery; it wasn’t just a biography or an author but a window into the historical context; and poetry was all the sudden full of beauty and excitement. I thank Mr. Durbin for encouraging my writing and analytic skills through questioning and challenging me. These skills have been indispensible for me and so too Mr. Durbin to my development.

I know that this is breaking the rules, but I must take advantage of this venue to highlight the privilege it is to be a YES Prep student and claim to have so many talented, visionary people as my instructors. Other wonderful people who have taught me include Chad Sopata, Marjoram Kamrani, Jason Bernal, Keith Desrosiers, Heather Teel, Javier Cuellar, Paulo Castagnoli, Chris Claflin, Joaquin Figueroa, and Chris Barbic, of course. There are definitely others who deserve to be mentioned and I would if it were the focus of this questionnaire…

How do you feel YES Prep best ensured you were college-ready? 

Learning how to manage my time and work. YES Prep was excellent in ensuring that I had steady and consistent work habits. This is in part helped by the structure of the day and the fact that a YES Prep student is always busy, but this would also not work if our teachers didn’t take the time out to show us how to organize our work and prioritize our time. Although these two skills are easily written, they shouldn’t be understated. One key to success in college is building work habits around priorities and timelines. YES Prep put me in the habit of recognizing what was most important to me and building structure in my time that enabled me to succeed. 

Knowing what you know now, what one piece of advice would you give to current YES Prep students?

Remember that it’s a privilege.  There is a lot of work involved in being a YES Prep student or teacher, yes. There is a lot of extra time spent on things your friends in other schools don’t even worry about, yes. But there is little to no other school that will give you the level of support and encouragement as exemplified by the YES Prep community. All wonderful things take a lot of time, sweat and tears. That’s the price of high expectations. These are the price of excellence. No other school will have the shared sense of mission and history. No other school will be as committed to you or your family, even if you paid thousands of dollars. When you are studying at 3 am, or unsure what you really want to pursue, or discouraged because others are not working as hard as you, also remember that there are thousands of others, inside and outside this country, who would sacrifice what they have to be in your position. Stick to the process and remember how far you’ve already come because tomorrow’s challenges require you to do so. It is a rare thing to be in your chair or be reading this letter, or others like it, so utilize this unique position to advance yourself, your family and whatever is important to you.

Peter on his experience in college...

What was your most difficult experience/time in college?  How did you overcome it?

My most difficult situation probably did not arrive until my third semester in graduate school. We had this class that was worth six credits called Advanced Planning Studio. This was a class that lasted from one to five, Monday, Wednesday and Friday – which is a lot for a college class. We were even told that we would have to quit our jobs in order to do well in the class by our lead instructor. Without going too far into the details, this was a class that involved the coordination of thirty people in advancing a redevelopment project in an underinvested set of neighborhood on Albuquerque’s west side. Suffice it to say the process was like pulling teeth. The most difficult part was not accomplishing the goals of the class, but coordinating a class of talented, opinionated people over how and what we would exactly do. There was so much infighting (over very real disagreements), disorganization or duplication of efforts, and a set of three professors who all had to be answered to. The class included having public workshops and a big presentation to the community.

The way I got through this was making timelines of my work, remaining in constant communication with my classmates, being accountable for my work, listening closely to classmates and community members, and yes, I quit my job because I literally couldn’t fit everything onto one plate. Thankfully, I have no wife or children, so I had this option. But ultimately, I just had to go a day at a time and remained faithful to my work and the class and eventually it was over.

What two or three qualities or characteristics within yourself were most important in helping you attain your college degree?

Ever since my earlier days at YES, I’ve had a strong internal sense of mission, but even more than this, a sense of solidarity with the people who made sacrifices for me or the people I grew up with. In my late nights or lonely moments I would always recall all that has been done for me, and how much belief was placed in me, and that was always enough to not allow for anyone to be let down by me - Not my teachers, my family or even my friends. They all put too much into me for me not to finish my work or live up to my responsibilities.  

How did you become involved on your college campus?

I was always naturally more interested in what was going on in the world outside of my school campus, including politics, music or any other of my interests, so ultimately my approach toward getting involved on-campus was always sort of haphazard, and usually the effect of being in proximity of others who were more involved. That being the case, I still found myself serving as a Senator on Student Council my junior year, where I helped develop quite useful legislation, participating in an environmental group that would hold education events on campus (and other projects), servings as student board vice president of the New Mexico Chapter of the American Planning Association, and even doing a few speaking engagements on the behalf of my school at fancy dinners and lunches.

What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment since graduation from YES Prep and/or college?  Why? 

The greatest accomplishment I’ve had was acceptance and (near) completion of an amazing graduate program, wherein I spent a lot of time analyzing and engaging in social and political movements, and further refined some of my professional goals, which by the time of grad school I still needed much guidance on.

Describe your life now. 

You are actually catching me at a sort of ubiquitous moment, as I am sort of in the middle of everything. I just moved back to Houston a little more than a month ago after living in Albuquerque for nearly three years. The most important thing is that I am trying to finish up my Master’s thesis (which I will have to fly back and defend in the next couple of months). Other than that I have been searching for work opportunities in different organizing and environmental roles. I had another job interview recently which looks promising, as an apartment tenant organizer with a group here in Houston. I’m crossing my fingers because they’re in the process of getting approved for a grant to pay for the position. But that’s a good picture of where I’m at right now.

In five years, I see myself in the process of establishing an international organizers network, based around localized energy and food sovereignty.

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