Life & Work with Ron Scott

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ron Scott. 

Hi Ron, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I developed my passion for working with young adults as a graduate student teaching composition and professional writing courses and continued as a faculty member at a small liberal arts university in northeast Ohio. Being from the area, and having lived in Cuyahoga Falls for the past twenty years, the move to manage the Young Adult Resource Center is a natural fit. 

Our organization – Youth Opportunities Unlimited – partners with Ohio Means Jobs Cleveland/Cuyahoga County to develop their professional skills in order to find a career. We help young people find their strengths, serving as a one-stop shop linking individuals to organizations dedicated to serving them. 

If you don’t know what you want to do yet, we will help you sift through your options and develop the skills you need. If you know, we can help you discover the path you will travel to get to that career. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My path has been remarkably smooth, and I feel very lucky to be in this position. The work is often hard, but it’s always worthwhile. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
The specific talents I bring to this job are my ability to listen and make connections. That work often requires patience, and I value helping others develop in ways that they either may or may not have been planning to do. 

We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
In particular young people are far more resilient than those in older generations give them credit for being. I often hear people my age complain that no one (i.e., y0ung people) wants to work anymore, when in actuality what the pandemic has taught me is that young people are far more conscious than I have ever been of the ways that work affects their well-being. 

Contact Info:

• Email: yrc@youthopportunities.org
• Website: https://www.clevelandyrc.org/
• Instagram: yrccleveland
• Twitter: YRCatOMJ