Service to success: A conversation with Adam Scott, ASU academic success specialist and U.S. Navy veteran
Listen to the interview with Adam Scott on ASU's Blaze Radio Podcast Pathfinder below:
Adam Scott, an academic success specialist in the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts at Arizona State University, met with digital audiences senior Brad Hofmann, a Veteran Affairs work-study student at ASU’s Office for Veteran and Military Academic Engagement, or OVMAE, to discuss Scott’s time in the Navy, his career and his passions.
Before Scott found his way into academia, he spent five action-packed years serving in the U.S. Navy. After a brief stint as a civilian, he couldn’t resist the call of duty and returned to the Navy as a reservist. Scott’s academic journey took him through the halls of the University of Phoenix, where he earned an Associate of Arts in business administration and then to Kaplan University, where he earned a bachelor's degree in healthcare administration management. Starting his career in financial aid assistance, Scott soon discovered that his true passion was guiding students to success. This led him to his current role where he mentors and supports students on their academic journeys.
Question: What was your early life like?
Answer: I was raised in a single-parent home and lived in a trailer park in Decatur, Illinois. I had to walk to school and was kind of encased in my own world. What I mean by that is, I only knew my friends and my surroundings. If I had continued on that path, that's probably all I would have known — that small-town vibe. I felt like I was stuck.
By joining the military, I was thrown into a melting pot of people with different backgrounds, different cultures, different religions and different perspectives. You meet many different people who have come from many different walks of life and get put into places like an aircraft carrier that forces you to get to know each other. Serving in the military really opens your eyes to see the world from a lot of different people's perspectives.
Q: Why did you decide to join the Navy?
A: In 2001, I graduated from high school and my family didn't come from much. College was out of the question, so it was either start work or join military service. I always get asked why I chose the Navy over a different branch, and honestly, the Navy was the first one to contact me. I didn’t know the difference between one service to the next and I didn't know which would be more beneficial to me. I just knew that my family didn't have money for me to go to college and no one in my family had gone to college.
I didn't know what I wanted to do career-wise, so when the Navy called and presented me with all the opportunities that the recruiters do, I just went for it. College and the GI Bill were a big part of why I joined the Navy. Without the GI Bill, I don’t know how I would’ve funded my tuition. I also made the decision because of the travel. Everybody knows the saying, “Join the Navy and see the world.” Well, that's the truth. After all your training you join the fleet and get underway.
Q: What is life like aboard an aircraft carrier?
A: I was first assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln in Everett, Washington, and did a couple of deployments during my five years of active duty. Some of the deployments were in support of the Global War on Terrorism, but one deployment in 2004 was a relief mission for the tsunami in Thailand.
On the ship, you’re either part of the air wing or the ship's company personnel. The air wing is essentially in charge of all the planes and helicopters that are aboard the aircraft carrier. The ship's company primarily lives on the ship because tending to it is a full-time job. Once at the port, the air wing will park the aircraft on land and do some training from ground-based stations like Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego. During my experience, the ship’s company stayed in Everett, Washington, where the USS Abraham Lincoln was stationed at the time. When we left for a deployment, we went to San Diego and stayed there for two to three days to pick up everyone in the air wing. Once the air wing personnel were aboard, we headed out, and usually 24 to 48 hours after we left, the planes started landing aboard the aircraft carrier. Once all the aircraft were recovered, we headed out to sea and the ship was like a floating city or giant bee hive of aircraft coming and going like bees.
Q: What was your path to Arizona State University?
A: I got off of active duty in 2006 and returned to my hometown of Decatur, Illinois. At home, I did half of a semester at the community college and I just couldn't sit in a classroom with 18-year-olds right out of high school. I felt I was there for one reason, but it felt like everyone else was there for another. Shortly after that, I talked to my mom and my uncle who owned a construction company in Arizona. I decided to move to Arizona and give construction work a try but soon realized that construction work in Arizona was not for me. I decided to start using my GI Bill and attended the University of Phoenix and Kaplan University, achieving a bachelor's degree in healthcare administrative management. While in school, I applied for a post-secondary education position in enrollment advising. That's how I got my foot in the door with education, and then from there, I tried to find my niche. I learned of a financial aid position that opened up at the ASU Tempe campus and saw that as a great opportunity to start a career at ASU. From there, I worked in various roles and most recently as an academic success advisor in ASU’s College of Integrated Sciences and Arts.
Q: What does an academic success advisor at ASU do?
A: I work with various programs to help students build their academic schedules. I advise students to take the correct courses to get to graduation as efficiently as possible. My job is student-focused and I help support students from enrollment to the time they graduate. As a student myself, I've experienced things that the majority of ASU online students have gone through and I can relate to them. I work primarily with ASU online students, but I used to work very closely with veteran students. Everybody who works with veteran students knows the benefits change so much from one year to the next. As a veteran, I can understand and apply my knowledge to build trust with those students and they know that I have their back.
Q: What are you passionate about outside of your role at ASU?
A: My second passion is baseball. My son started playing t-ball when he was three years old and I am my kid's biggest cheerleader. Our head coach at the time moved to Texas, so I volunteered to take on coaching the team. I coached my son and his teams until he was 15 years old. Coaching his team opened the doors to East Valley baseball. I started running youth baseball tournaments in Chandler, Arizona, and now I coach an 18-U all-girls baseball team. We play other all-girls baseball teams from all over the country and in Canada. I coach the girls' team twice per year and I also umpire youth baseball. My son and I started umpiring together last year and it's a good way for us to bond now that he's about to finish his senior year in high school. My son is learning a lot from the experience. As umpires, we can sometimes make things harder for ourselves than they need to be. We have to understand that coaches are in the spirit of competition and they can get caught up in their emotions. Being an umpire is much like customer service because we're serving the teams and the parents.
Q: Where do you see your path taking you?
A: My military service as a reservist is coming to an end so that chapter is closing. I’m really going to miss the camaraderie of the service. I love doing what I do at the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts and I love the team I work with. My team leader, Jamie, has been amazing and she sets the tone for the entire team. Our success as a student-facing department is indicative of Jamie’s leadership. I really love serving the students at the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts and the past six years have been some of the best years of my life. I wouldn’t mind progressing in my career at the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts as the student body continues to grow. Whatever capacity I work in, I want to continue to serve the students because that's very rewarding for me. I’m also focused on my son’s future and guiding him in the best way that I can. He’s considering college or going into military service. I see myself guiding him much like what I do as an academic success specialist in the college. Together we look at the goals and plan backward from there. These are exciting times.