Monday, February 6, 2012

Scott McDonough: Live and Let Live


Scott McDonough: Live and Let Live
By Katie Deal, ENGL 336.001


When initially approaching Scott McDonough, you will see dark hair, a firm look on his face, tattoos, and two of his favorite things…black leather and boots. However, don’t let his outside appearance fool you. As Scott puts it, he “puts on a tough exterior”, but is really “a sweetie on the inside”.

Scott is a 23 year old English major here at Frostburg State University. Although he was born in Chicago, Illinois, he considers his hometown to be Frederick, Maryland. With a degree in English, Scott hopes to become a professional writer, perhaps in the field of journalism. He explained that with an English degree, “they always assume that you want to be a teacher, but I just don’t want to do that. If worse comes to worse, I’ll burn the degree for warmth during the winter.” Scott’s interest in English lies much more within writing, and not reading. He demonstrated this when he remarked, “To tell you the truth, I don’t really enjoy reading. It just goes along with the major.” Scott hopes to continue his academic career in English by participating in a professional writing internship. Before attending Frostburg State, Scott started out at Towson University. However, he simply could not find the motivation. Now that he is at FSU, his policy is “business before pleasure”.

When Scott isn’t working on his English degree, he enjoys several hobbies. One of these pastimes has become a life-long passion. Scott has been playing the drums for 12 years now and he explains that “it is not just playing in my basement, it is more for personal enjoyment.” Throughout his musical experiences, he had the chance to work with professionals, participate in jazz training, take private lessons, and even went to school for drumming. Aside from his love of drumming, Scott also has another favorite activity. He enjoys what is called Olympic lifting. He explains that he is “not in the Olympics, it’s just what they call it”. Basically, this class of lifting is a form of power training practiced in order to stay in shape.

In addition to Scott’s academic and leisurely pursuits, he also has several other unique interests. He particularly enjoys art, but not just any art. Scott enjoys wearing his art on his sleeve and has submerged himself into what he describes as the “subculture of personal art”. Besides his eyebrow piercing, he has put over $2,000 into personal art in the form of his sleeve tattoo. He explains, “I have to have color in my life.” So, when Scott is not studying, drumming, lifting weights, or working on his personal art, he enjoys traveling. He says, “If I ever do end up teaching, I would like to go overseas.” Other favorites in Scott’s life include the musical artists Tool, Alice in Chains, and James Brown, anything with “subtleties and dynamics. His preferred movies include crime films with Guy Ritchie, Robert De Niro flicks, and those “British crime films with lots of dialogue and narration”.

All in all, Scott McDonough is a distinctive individual with many diverse interests. To sum it all up, Scott will tell you that his main philosophy in life is “live and let live”.

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