Flash Points:

• Former Men's Basketball player Melvin Scott is featured.
• Graduated in 2000 with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and got his masters degree in 2002 in Business Administration
• Now the Vehicle Information Director at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

LORETTO, Pa. - In the third edition of the "Flash Back" Feature Series, we highlight Melvin Scott, a former men's basketball player who graduated in 2000.  The "Flash Back" series is an initiative by the Saint Francis Student-Athlete Development Center designed to provide updates of former SFU student-athletes who are doing great things in the "real world". Each month, two former student-athletes will be featured in a question and answer format.

Name:  Melvin Scott 
Current hometown: Bowie, MD 
Graduation Year at Saint Francis:  2000 BS 2002 MBA 
Major(s)/minor(s) at Saint Francis:  Computer science and MBA 

Why Saint Francis University?
I chose Saint Francis mostly for people. When I visited the college, the basketball team seemed like a tight knit group, then genuinely cared for each other like one big family. And that feeling was also conveyed by the university's faculty. 

Clubs and organizations involved in both inside and outside of athletics while at Saint Francis:
I was a part of the men's basketball, outdoor track team, ACM ( Association for Computer Machinery), and CERMUSA, 

Favorite professor while at Saint Francis: 
I have a lot couple of favorite professors:  Dr. Randy Frye, Dr. Jody Timms, and Amy Miko. 

Current profession: 
Vehicle Information Director at the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. 

Job history after graduating from SFU:   
- Center of Excellence for Remote and Medically Under-Served Area (CERMUSA) - Video teleconference coordinator ,
- UPS - Package sorter  ,
- CyberTek – computer programmer
- IIHS – Computer programmer/ Vehicle Information Director 

Does your current profession relate to your major? If not, why did you decide to go a different route?
Yes, my current position relates to both my degrees. My primary role is computer programming, web programming, and database programming. I also manage people and projects. 

How was the job search process for you? Any advice for student-athletes currently on the job hunt?
The job search process was tough for me. I was like most college graduates in thinking that now that I graduated from college with my degree I could easily come back home, to the DC area and get a job making boat loads of money. After I left Loretto, I came back to DC area looking for a computer programming job. At the time it was called a mini silicon valley with a plethora of tech jobs. Two months before I graduated the tech bubble burst and AOL laid off 5,000 computer programmers in the DC area. So I was a recent graduate looking at the same job as people with 10+ plus years of experience. Needless to say, I was the odd man out of the industry. I worked at UPS at night because it gave me enough money to survive, but also it opened up my days for job hunting. It took me six months of applying for every job I could, going to career fairs, and interviews before I finally found a computer programming job, in a totally different metropolitan area than I planned on living in, in a lower position then I wanted. But I took that job, maximized everything that I could learn from that positon and was able to use the experience I learned there to get a job that I wanted in the end. My advice to student-athletes currently on the job hunt, is to be patient. Most of the time you will not get exactly what you want right off the bat. If you have a dream to do a certain profession, don't be discouraged if you don't get exactly what you want right from the start. It takes time to get there and sometime you have to take a lessor position which seems like a step in the wrong direction, but it gets your foot in the door, and started towards your desired end goal. On the same note, do not squander any other career opportunities that may arise and not necessarily in your field. There are plenty of other for filling careers not necessarily associated with your degree. 

What is your favorite part of your job and why?
My favorite part of my job, is that a lot of time I can see a direct correlation in research and reports I help produce and the reaction of car manufactures. If our research deems a certain vehicle safety feature as lifesaving with our top safety pick awards, then in the next year we can see other vehicle manufactures adding that feature to their vehicle. 

What is something you wish you could have done that you didn't do when you were at Saint Francis? Or what is something you would have done differently?
The only thing I wish I could have done differently was beat Rob Krimmel and Eric Taylor up the old route 22 mountain when we use to have to race up it in the pre-season. I was always near the back, but as long as you beat the head coach, which has Coach McConnell at the time, I was good. 

What did you do in the year immediately after graduating?
The first year after graduating I spent my time stacking delivery trucks by night and job searching by day, until I was able to find my first job. 

What is one class you recommend that student-athletes should take and why?
One class I would recommend to take is an intro to computer science. With most jobs being so digital, it's always a plus to expose to some of the technologies out there. 

How did being a student-athlete help you in your career?
Being a student athlete help me to being able to maximize my time. Being an athlete is a full time job, then on top of that you have to be a full time student. You have to find that perfect balance of working on your craft as an athlete with being a student, and still having time to hang out with friends and create lifetime bonds. 

What is the single most important piece of advice you would give student-athletes?
To enjoy privilege of being a student athlete. Work to maximize your craft in whatever sport you play so you can be the best athlete you can be. But at the end of the day, in 4-5 years your athletic days will be over, and you will have to rely on what you learned as a student to carry you through the rest of your life.    

What is your favorite memory from Saint Francis?
My favorite memory is just the bond that I had with the other 3 guys I had in my recruiting class. We were all a brotherhood that started in freshman orientation and continues today 20 years later.   

Contact Information - If you feel comfortable providing your contact information in case our student-athletes would like to reach out to you:  
Email – Paco00745@yahoo.com