Page 49 - WilmU - Spring 2017

CARLOS COTTO:
Higher (and higher) Education
Once a high school dropout, this alumnus now has his eye on a doctorate while touting the value of learning to the Latin-American community. by Bob Yearick
Carlos Cotto
When he was 16, CARLOS COTTO dropped out of Newark (Del.) High School midway through what he ruefully calls “my second attempt at 10th grade.”
To his adolescent mind, the decision made perfect sense. “I was working part-time in the warehouse at Sears in the winter,” Cotto says, “and in the summer I did construction work, and I was learning a lot about the business. So I figured, why do I need school?”
For a few years, it seemed like a good move. Intelligent and hard- working, Cotto went into the construction trade full-time and eventually was promoted to project manager. In 1993, at 21, he was married and living in a Newark apartment with his wife and 6-month-old son. His wages totaled about $35,000 a year — not exactly fat city, but enough for him and his young family.
Then he got sick.
“I began feeling ill about a month before my wedding,” he says, “but I went to work every day — if you didn’t work, you didn’t get paid, and I didn’t have medical benefits.” He gradually got worse, and was finally
PHOTO BY SUSAN L. GREGG
SPRING 2017 47