Ask a professor, an Ignatian resident or an administrator about Peter Otoki ’08, and they’ll probably tell you that he’s an accomplished, gracious and mature humanitarian.
Ask Otoki about his success, and he says, “I just feel that I have been especially blessed at Fairfield in meeting a lot of great people … and I just thought, ‘What can I do to give back?'”
This sense of humility, combined with Otoki’s contributions to the Fairfield community, qualified him to be one of two recipients of the 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. Vision Awards.
“How many of us have a vision? Peter has a vision that informs his daily life and his future thinking. It’s pretty simple; he is in a position to help and has been blessed with the gifts to help. His vision is one of service,” said Dean of Students Tom Pellegrino.
“His personality is cool and relaxed, but driven at the same time,” said Meredith Marquez, assistant director for student diversity programs, who has worked closely with Otoki in the Cura Personalis Mentoring Program.
Despite the fact that he has already secured a job at Goldman Sachs, Otoki, an international business major and Asian studies minor, is a familiar face in planning networking events and volunteering to mentor students in the Dolan School of Business.
“He could just coast through his senior year, but instead he’s finding people to connect with to help underclassmen find jobs as good as his,” said David Guerrera ’08, a friend of Otoki’s who studied abroad with Otoki in Beijing during the fall of their junior year.
Otoki has shared his passion for global citizenship, promoting diversity and organizing cultural enrichment programs on campus.
He worked as a liaison between the Multicultural Center and the Ignatian Residential College, and chaired activities such as Club 42 and Noche Caliente.
He organized a can collection campaign for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, volunteered for Head Start and hosted several “Buy-A-Date” fund-raising events.
Otoki’s desire to serve others and to challenge himself was inspired by the late Ben Halm, who was an award-winning playwright and English professor at Fairfield.
Halm died in May 2007 after a long-term illness and inspired Otoki to set far-reaching goals.
While most students would protest Halm’s request to have Otoki rewrite his first paper at least 10 times, Otoki is thankful that Halm challenged him and helped him become a better writer.
“I thought, ‘I have to do something to pay homage to this man that has helped me so much,'” said Otoki.
Halm was born in Accra, Ghana. Otoki and Guerrera said they hope to travel to a West African city this summer to teach English.
The cost of the trip is expensive, and the two friends said they are contemplating holding off; instead, they are considering putting the money toward their most recent project by involving Fairfield in the One Laptop Per Child program.
According to its Web site, One Laptop Per Child is designing laptops for children in developing nations otherwise unavailable to receive technological learning opportunities.
Peter has simple advice for students to find their own vision.
A quote of Ralph Waldo Emerson is his guide for success: “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
“You have to follow your own inner drumbeat,” said Otoki. “People try and turn that off, but just try and listen to that inner beat.”
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