By Tucker Paquette
@tpaquette17
Senior Jill Scott is involved in various reaches of the Springfield College community. Whether it be heavily investing in her Occupational Therapy major, working in the Honors Program or participating in campus athletics, Scott has done a bit of everything during her time on Alden Street.
Scott sat down with The Student to discuss her life on campus, what she enjoys about Springfield College and more.
The Student: What work do you do as part of the Honors Program?
Scott: Every semester I’ve taken some sort of Honors-related course, specifically through the Honors Program with the Honors professors. Usually, it’s on one very niche topic, which is always really fun. I’ve taken some of my most favorite classes because of that. It’s formatted in the way of a minor, so I have to take 18 credits for the honors program. I also have to go to out of class learning experiences, and you go to 4 of those for a semester and you write a little write up. It’s just a good way to immerse yourself in the campus and all the events that are going on, and also learn something new and go to something maybe you wouldn’t have gone to before. It’s definitely been an amazing program to be part of that I wasn’t really expecting to have some of the outcomes within.
The Student: What is the most valuable thing you’ve learned from being an occupational therapy student?
Scott: To look at the whole person instead of just individual aspects of it. One of the main themes in OT is holism and thinking about the social, emotional, mental and physical aspects of a person, which I really enjoyed about OT going into it. I liked how we weren’t just focused on making sure you can move your arm or move your leg. You’re really looking at the whole aspect of ‘How is this going to affect their daily life and how can I help them be most successful in whatever they choose to do?’ It definitely made me more aware of taking a lot of other factors into consideration and how everything can build off of other things.
The Student: What is the most valuable part about being a student athlete?
Scott: I think being a student athlete has taught me a lot of patience and how to pick myself back up in hard situations. Maybe a meet didn’t go how I wanted, or the season isn’t going how I want, but trusting my training and knowing that I’m putting in all my work that I can will get me there eventually. And it has. It always has. It’s definitely helped me be resilient in that aspect. Also on the academic side of that, time management and building connections outside of schooling and everything. It offers a nice place to destress almost from everything that’s happening at school and all of your stressful exams and everything. I feel like a lot has come out of being a student athlete.
The Student: What is your favorite part about Springfield College?
Scott: In a broad sense, all the opportunities that Springfield provides. I have really great professors and I’ve met a lot of great people here in general, and that just opens a lot of doors to other opportunities, like joining different clubs and building connections to use in the future and knowing how to make connections. Springfield in general is really great about getting every student comfortable with branching out and seeking out other opportunities.
The Student: What is your favorite spot on campus?
Scott: I would say if I’m doing work, I really like to do work on the top floor of the Union because I feel like it’s quieter, but it’s also not too quiet like the library. I feel like if you get downstairs [in the Union], it’s a nice place to chill out. I also really like the mezzanine on the track. It’s really comfortable to just hang out there, and it’s one of my favorite spots to be because I just spend all my time at the track anyways.
The Student: How do you want to be remembered and why?
Scott: I want to be remembered more based on who I am as a person, rather than what I’ve accomplished or what I’m going to do in the future. I want to be remembered as being a good teammate, someone who’s supportive and kind and welcoming. Someone who works hard and puts a lot of effort in but also has a balance between recognizing the good and the bad from any situation.
Photo by Braedan Shea/The Student