Where are they now: Scott Smith

Written by: Elizabeth Prieskorn '14

          We all know “Old” Mr. Smith and “Young” Mr. Smith. They’re some of the friendly faces we see in the hallways and classrooms at our school every day. If you’re lucky you have or have had one or both of them as your teacher. But, what about the other Mr. Smith? Where’s Scooter?

          He used to walk the halls of Eaton Rapids High School as many of us do today. Just like most of us have and will, Scooter made many great memories here at ERHS. One event that he will never forget includes his track squad winning the Regional Championship in 2003.

          He liked all of his teachers here, but his favorite would have to be his Dad, Old Mr. Smith. “He made economics exciting and digestible for a 9th grade audience.  His teaching inspired me to pursue a business degree”, says Scooter. Some of his favorite classes were Economics, Retail Marketing, Global Issues and Spanish.

          Scooter thoroughly enjoyed high school here at ERHS. Some of his best friends in high school are still his best friends today. Though most all of them have moved away from Eaton Rapids, they still keep in touch and try to see each other whenever possible. Scooter graduated from ERHS in 2003 and later attended Michigan State University. He majored in marketing and obtained his undergraduate college degree in 2007 and then his MBA in 2011, also from MSU.

         After graduating college Scooter worked at Hormel Foods as a sales representative. While working at Hormel he was presented with many opportunities and new life experiences. He was able to live in two major US cities, Atlanta, GA, as well as, Minneapolis.

         Scooter saw his time employed at Hormel well spent and a great life experience and learning opportunity. After gaining work experience at Hormel Foods, he is now currently the Associate Product Manager at Arden Companies.  In his role at Arden he is in charge of managing the product portfolio for their new business division. Scooter’s job is going extremely well and he loves that he is constantly learning and continually improving while being put in situations to succeed.

         Scooter loves spending time with his wife and going out socializing to local places with his friends. He also enjoys watching Michigan State athletics and visiting new places. Scooter is still unsure exactly what his future holds, but is looking forward to finding out what it does hold.

         He seems to view all aspects of his life as an adventure and embrace the experience, whether professional or personal.  Some advice that Scooter would like to give to us, high school students, would be, “What you know today, is less than you know tomorrow and what you know tomorrow pales in comparison to what you will know a year from now.  In order to succeed, you should never become complacent.  You should always aspire to learn more and improve as a person.”  This is profound advice, which will hopefully resonate with all of us for years to come.