Employee Spotlight: Jesse Scott
Jesse Scott was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, a small, post-industrial steel town from which few families ever left. He was raised by a stay-at-home mother and a hard-working, 80-hours-a-week father. Both of his parents instilled within him the importance of going to college, and Jesse knew that if he ever wanted to see the world, education would be essential.
Jesse hoped his talent on the football field would lead to a scholarship, and that plan looked promising. By his junior year, he was touring Division 1 schools, and speaking with talent scouts. Unfortunately, those offers evaporated after a severe knee injury ended his promising football career.
He enrolled at Shawnee State University to study international relations and talked to his local Army recruiter to help him pay for it. Jesse enlisted as a Psychological Operations Specialist, a regiment falling under Army Special Operations Forces, and was sent off to basic training. When that was complete, he returned to Shawnee State to complete his courses. However, just before his
senior year, the Army shipped him overseas.
He completed his degree online, while also serving in Djibouti, on the east coast of Africa in 2018. He was sent to Nairobi, where he trained their national partnered forces in psychological operations, and then to Somalia where he worked in propaganda analysis.
As a fledgling democracy, Somalia was vulnerable to manipulations through media, literature, and radio, particularly from the terrorist organization Al-Shabaab. It was Jesse’s job to report on those manipulations and advise on how best to counter and prevent them.
He returned to the states in July of 2018 and took a job as a corrections officer at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, the site of the largest prison riots in US history, which occurred in 1993.
Jesse faced 70-hour work weeks, witnessed violent attacks between prisoners, and a score of challenges that came with maintaining order in such a chaotic workplace. During that tumultuous year, Jesse spent what little free time he had studying for college admissions and the LSATs. And in August of 2019, he was admitted to the College of Law at the University of Toledo. He is now the managing editor of the Law Review at Toledo.
Jesse studied several aspects of law, but his career in the military still called to him. He began to search for ways to become involved again that wouldn’t hamper his ability to go to school. Jesse applied and was offered a direct commission as a Naval Reserve Intelligence officer. He was assigned to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center in Dayton.
Jesse then began looking for a firm that would value his contribution and put him in a position to help others. Though there was no advertised position available, he submitted his resume to our offices. Within an hour, someone had contacted him for an interview.
His previous experience was primarily working with solo practitioners, so seeing Boyk Law’s team of aides, paralegals, and clerks bustling around the office was entirely foreign to him. He realized rather quickly, however, that each individual within our offices is a person ready to collaborate, support, and work to overcome any obstacle for our clients. Our pack of office dogs made him feel
welcome, too!
“Jesse is the total package,” says Chuck Boyk. “He produces great quality work, has a fantastic attitude, and his work ethic is top-notch.”
Though currently a Law Clerk, Jesse plans to take the Ohio Bar Exam in July of this year, and we all know he will pass with flying colors, and fully begin a long successful career in law!
