May 2, 2012
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By John Denton, Knights Insider
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Often overlooked is the balancing act that it takes to be both student and athlete. In addition to the time in the classroom, it's the time away from school on road trips and games that make juggling academics and athletics even trickier.
But in the eyes of former UCF soccer player Spencer Scott, his two worlds - sports and studies - always complemented one another. The discipline he learned in soccer helped him in the classroom and the smarts of being an honors student aided him in becoming one of UCF's headiest players on the soccer pitch.
"It's tough balancing school and sports, especially in the fall because I missed 20 school days because we traveled a lot as a team. But I learned to stay on top of things and be self disciplined," Scott said. "I had to lay my schedule out in front of me and try to get stuff done earlier than it had to be turned in. I tried not to procrastinate too much and I was able to get it done."
Scott, who graduates from UCF on Friday, got it done so well that he was recently accepted into law school at the University of Florida. He'll graduate with a 3.7 overall grade-point average and a 4.0 in his major of political science.
Scott has yet to decide what avenue of law he will follow, but he's just eager about the opportunity to work in a capacity where he can serve the community. It's a fitting role for him after he served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee each of the past two years - as the marketing chairman as a junior and as the vice president as a senior.
"I knew I wanted to go into law school because that opens a lot of career paths up for me, anything such as being a criminal prosecutor to maybe an FBI agent. So I'm looking forward to those opportunities," Scott said. "I haven't decided what specialization yet, but hopefully once I get to law school that I'll find my niche. I just want to help serve the community."
Scott helped build a foundation of success at UCF with the blossoming men's soccer program. The Knights were 12-6-3 last season while earning a Top 10 ranking. They reached the second round of the NCAA Championship for a second year in a row and lost in overtime for a second straight year.
Scott, a Palm City native, played 90 minutes in that crushing loss to USF. He had an assist in the regular-season win against Tulsa and an assist in the defeat of Memphis at the Conference USA Championship. But it's that second consecutive OT loss in the NCAAs that still eats at him today.
"It hurts bad and it's something I'm going to carry with me the rest of my life," Scott admitted. "That's two years in a row that we lost in overtime. And I felt like if we would have won that game we would have made a deep run."
Scott credits UCF head coach Bryan Cunningham for instilling in him the discipline needed to be successful both on the soccer pitch and in the classroom. Under Cunningham's direction, Scott said he learned how to push himself further than he thought possible, allowing him to accomplish plenty in the classroom and in soccer.
"Coach Cunningham really installed a hard work ethic in everything we did and taught us how to go the extra mile. What he taught us has translated to every facet of life for me," Scott said. "Our senior class helped to lay that foundation for UCF's soccer program, and next year they are going to be even more talented and really good. We helped put UCF on the map. We were a small senior class, but we had a fun four years. I really think UCF is going to be really good for a lot of years."
Scott's former UCF teammates had two messages for him recently: Congratulations on getting into law school; and don't forget that he will be a Knight for life - even if he does go on to earn a law degree from UF.
"They've given me a little grief about that," he said with a chuckle. "They told me congratulations, but told me not to become a Gator. I'm a Knight."