What is your full name, and what name do you prefer to go by? How do pronounce it phonetically?
Pete Valeo. (Peet Vah-LAY-oh)
Which pronouns to do you prefer? (e.g. she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/their)
He/him/his
What is your birthday? Are you OK with having your birthday publicly acknowledged/celebrated?
November 5, 1983. Definitely OK having it acknowledged - let's party!
Where did you grow up?
I grew in Arlington Heights, IL, which is a suburb about 25 miles northwest of Chicago. I moved to Madison in 2002 to attend UW and have stuck around ever since.
Did you have any fun nicknames while growing up? Do you have any now? What is the origin (if you feel comfortable sharing)?
No fun nicknames, but there was a period of time a few years ago when a lot of people randomly thought my name was Kevin for some reason.
What holidays do you celebrate (if any)?
The usual - Christmas, Thanksgiving, Arbor Day, etc.
Academics
What is your academic life like?
Graduated! Woooo!
In undergrad I majored in sociology and religious studies with a focus in Buddhism, and I'm considering doing the capstone certificate program that the UW-Madison Computer Science department offers.
Interests
What do you like to do when you're not in class/working for STS?
What do you like to do for fun?
I like doing music stuff on my computer in Ableton Live (guitar and keys mostly), learning (a lot of coding/tech related stuff lately), going cycling out and about in town, gaming on the Nintendo Switch, cooking, watching TV and movies with my girlfriend Nicole.
Do you have any other jobs or internships?
I do freelance web design/development, which is a fun complement to STS.
Any exciting plans for summer/winter break?
My girlfriend and I are trying to finalize trips to LA and Salt Lake City to visit friends, and possibly Seattle/Vancouver.
Neat Facts
What are some interesting, unexpected, or surprising facts about yourself?
What is something that might surprise someone who just met you?
I am a weirdly huge fan of Lin-Manuel Miranda and hope someday to meet him, although I also kind of don't want to, because what if in person he ends up being super lame or mean. How will I process that?
Where is somewhere you have always wanted to travel?
The Pacific Northwest - Seattle/Portland/Vancouver, etc. Also the Italian Alps.
Have you ever met anyone famous?
I met KD Lang on State St a couple of years ago, and she asked me where she and her tour manager could get a good salad. I panic-recommended Graze on the Capitol Square, and in hindsight, it wasn't really a very good suggestion.
Life at STS
Talk a little bit about your time with STS
What is your favorite topic to teach?
Illustrator and the Design Studies 120 classes are great because students can see cool results right away.
What is something you are interested in learning?
Python and R.
What has been the most challenging part of working at STS?
Having to say goodbye to so many awesome STS trainers when they graduate.
Also, dealing with how much cooler and more interesting STS trainers are than I was at their age.
Miscellaneous
Other potentially interesting bits of information about yourself
Favorite Movies
Recent favorites include Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse and Thor: Ragnarok
Favorite TV Shows
The Good Place, New Girl, Schitt's Creek
Favorite Music
Hamilton and the soundtrack to Moana
A Food You Love
Xiao long bao/soup dumplings
A Food You Hate
Most uncooked tomatoes (they taste the way raw pumpkin guts smell!)
Favorite Childhood Pet
Clancy, our oversized Sheltie who was basically a person in dog form
Favorite Place in Madison
The Union Terrace in the summertime, the bike path
