Jeremy Scott is Raising the Bar

Former Olympian Jeremy Scott has had an impressive career as a professional athlete and was recently inducted into the NCAA III Hall of Fame. “It’s weird to think you’ve been doing something long enough to be in the Hall of Fame,” Scott joked when he interviewed about the induction by the Norfolk Daily News. Now he is embarking on a brand new endeavor at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) at Arkansas State University (A-State). Scott is pursuing his degree in Osteopathic Medicine and plans to specialize in sports medicine. He sat down with The Box to talk about his remarkable life trajectory and what excites him most about this new adventure.

Why did you choose NYITCOM at A-State?
Although I will always consider myself a Nebraskan, I have now lived in Jonesboro for the last 14 years because of my pole vault career (world-renowned coach Earl Bell has a training center in Jonesboro). The initial attraction to NYIT’s partnership with A-State was proximity and a more controlled transition process for my family. While those reasons are still very attractive, many other things such as residency match percentage, the friendly staff and faculty, and the hands-on learning approach made NYIT my top choice.

What excites you most about osteopathic medicine?
My dad is an auto mechanic and owned his own business until he retired a few years ago. Most of my summers growing up were spent working with him at the family business. He is always tinkering with things and has a level of mechanical and structural ingenuity that few could duplicate. Although I don't have the love of cars that he does, the love of fixing things and tinkering with how to make things work better rubbed off on me. I am especially excited about the opportunity to work with my hands as a physician and to fill a role of service as a sort of mechanic of the human body.

You had a career as an athlete before returning to school. What advice would you give to a student who is thinking of returning to school or changing careers?,
Although the background material from undergrad would have been much fresher had I gone straight into medical school, I feel that I am far better prepared to handle medical school now after the experiences of my athletic career. I think the skills and dedication that make a person successful in one career path will transfer over to a new one. You don’t change your core values or personality, you simply aim it in a different direction. If a person has a goal and is willing to work for it, there’s not a lot that can stop them.

No matter where you decide to go and what you decide to do, you want to be around people that want you to succeed. People that measure their own success by how successful you become are much more likely to have your best interests at heart and will help you to reach your full potential. So far, I have found that to be the case with our faculty at NYITCOM at A-State.

What is one thing about you people might be surprised to find out?
I asked my wife what people would be surprised to find out about me and her response is that no one would have expected me to land such an amazing, talented, and beautiful wife! A better answer might be that on my first and only attempt at the obscure Dutch sport of fierste ljepper I set the American record. In case you are wondering what I am talking about, here is the highlight video for that day. I am the last person in the video.