Andreo Otiniano ’20
Men’s Volleyball Player, OH/S/RS/L / Photography Major
Q. How old were you when you began playing your sport? Any special memories you would like to share?
A. Growing up in Westchester, boys volleyball was never available. I was always fascinated with the fast pace and precision volleyball had to offer. It wasn’t until sophomore year of high school, when I was 14 and knew I wanted to try out for the girl’s volleyball team. “Why couldn’t I have an opportunity?” Through dedication, tears, support, and a pair of short spandex, I was one of three boys to play girls varsity volleyball in New York.
Q. What made you choose Purchase College?
A. The notable art and design program brought me to Purchase, along with the opportunity to finally play on a men’s volleyball team.
Q. What year did you start playing your sport/s at Purchase?
A. Freshman year (2016-17)
Q. Highlights from your career? Awards/accolades received at Purchase?
A. Freshman: Purchase College Men’s Volleyball “Rookie Award,” Sophomore: All-Skyline Conference Second Team, Junior: All-Skyline Conference First Team, Purchase College Men’s Volleyball “MVP Award”
Q. What is your most memorable moment as a Panther?
A. Hosting the Skyline Conference Semifinals against St. Joseph’s College-Brooklyn last year and winning it to advance to the championship game for the first time in Purchase volleyball history.
Q. What is the best advice a coach at Purchase gave you?
A. “Don’t be so hard on yourself! You can’t do everything!”
Q. What is the most difficult part about being a student-athlete?
A. The most difficult part about being a student-athlete was keeping my body healthy and making sure I was eating. As an athlete struggling with an eating disorder, I knew I could never perform to my best ability on an empty stomach. I couldn’t be the leader I normally was. I thank my coaches and teammates for the daily support they gave, keeping my head up and being the family I needed.
Q. What motivates you to succeed both on and off the field?
A. Myself and my family. I strive to be better than who I was the day before and the day before that. The endless support of my mother and brother has been everything I could’ve asked for to perform to the best of my ability as an athlete, artist and person.
Q. What is your Senior Project?
A. The title of my Senior Project is “Did you eat today?” For the majority of my life, I’ve only experienced a home that was broken. A boy living with no father and a struggling mother raising two children on her own. I was lost.
Starting in elementary school, I would come home to food cooked for me by my grandma, who lived right next door to me. She would take care of me while my mother was working her second job. My grandmother, Angela Dattilo, was born in the south of Italy in 1937 and began cooking for her siblings and family when she was six years old. She would walk miles away to her relatives farm, shoeless, to ask for ingredients.
As my grandmother grows older, I try to record the recipes that she makes for our family. When I was younger, I grew depressed seeing my parents fight, while going through the motions of hating school. After school, I would come home to a bowl of pasta that was big enough to serve two hungry adults. I finished every last bite, not realizing I wasn’t hungry but just eating my feelings. It wasn’t long until I gained weight, enough to be very apparent, and visits with my father became less frequent.
I couldn’t handle the emotional and verbal abuse any longer. After erasing him from the family photo, his presence and words stuck with me and negatively affected me for years. I had become a person he would never recognize. As I strive to heal with the help of my mother, brother and the rest of my family, I learned to appreciate food again and what it means to be a family.
So I am writing about my story, while recording my grandmother’s recipes in my photo book and inviting you into my home, with a series of photographs of food and family members.
Q. How has your Senior Project been impacted by COVID-19?
A. I was never given the opportunity to present my story that I gave four years of dedication to.
Q. What does post-graduation life look like for you? (travel, work, grad school, etc.)
A. Interning at Milk Studios in Chelsea, NY and with continuing my series.
Q. What advice would you give to incoming freshman about being a student-athlete at Purchase College?
A. Take advantage of what your athletics department, your major and your professors have to offer! Take it seriously and enjoy every experience you have. Every day is different, you can never relive your memories exactly how they happened. After being forced to move off-campus so abruptly, I never got the opportunity to reminisce about my memories and accomplishments at Purchase.
Q. What will you miss most about Purchase College?
A. The amazing people and professors that I have met at this school that changed and saved my life!