Scott Family

Patrick Scott (‘04, MBA) and Joshua Scott (’22, Management)

Joshua Scott (left), Patrick Scott (center) and Patrick W. Scott all earned degrees from SDSU

Did your college experience influence your parenting style? If so, how?
Patrick: Working on my MBA, I was in a study group of six men. We all came from different professional backgrounds, and on the surface, we did not have all that much in common. Our common thread was to play up each other’s strengths and to identify and minimize any weakness of our teammates. For example, if we were giving a presentation, our best two speakers would go first and last. Even when our group broke off into smaller groups, we would collaborate and make the decision to put all of us in a position to be successful. This is a style of parenting that I used with my wife and family. Finding our strengths and weaknesses and playing up the former while playing down the latter. From my perspective this collaboration helped both of our children to be successful and feel supported and loved. 

Did your dad’s education at SDSU inspire you to attend? 
Josh: My dad is a very proud alumnus and told me a lot about his time at SDSU when I was considering colleges to attend. His experience at SDSU excited me. I felt motivated to experience life as a student here as he did. 

How do you think your SDSU experience was different from Joshua’s?
Patrick: I was in the part-time MBA program — basically, a glorified commuter student. My study group was a great source of academic and moral support, however, Joshua had the more traditional on-campus and campus apartment experience which is a fairly intense bonding experience. There is no comparison to the casual aquatints I made versus the lifelong bonding Joshua had with his friends.  

When did you earn your degree?
Josh: I earned my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration Management in May 2022.

Do you have other Aztecs in your family?
Patrick: In our extended family we have many Aztec alumni, and we go back a couple generations. My dad who is turning 94 (Patrick W. Scott, ’70, Sociology) this year, to my sister (Lisa Scott Jones, ’05, Political Science), myself, Joshua our latest and soon, my daughter Katie will join our ranks of proud Aztecs.