Las Vegas City Wire

An academic advisor with University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Academic Success Center says that his interest in writing has led him down a path to working at the university.

According to a news release shared by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Scott Hinkle majored in English and received a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the university. He credits working as an English teacher near a small Japanese town close to Mount Fuji as providing the path back to working at the school.

“I realized that out of all my previous jobs, I loved it most when I was able to work with people one-on-one,” Hinkle said in the release. “Given my previous experience working individually with students as a writing tutor and my background as an instructor in higher ed, it seemed like the perfect fit.”

When Hinkle came back to UNLV, starting off as a writing consultant and composition instructor, he found that helping students forge their own path is the best part of his career.

''With Exploring majors, Academic Success Center (ASC) advisors discuss how personal interests and aptitudes might relate to a major or career," Hinkle said. "Still, we also help students with a lot of practical stuff.” [The Exploring major at UNLV allows freshmen and sophomores to concentrate on general education requirements, while working with one of their advisors to research the majors they're interested in and available career options.] 

Since the center is often a new student’s first introduction to the university, he said, advisors let them know they will be part of their educational career during their time at the school.  

For Hinkle, his love for writing was not paying the dividends that he hoped for, so it was an easy transition to work for UNLV.

''I eventually realized that I could never be the type of writer who could steadily produce publishable work year after year, and then when I got married, I had to balance my priorities," Hinkle said. "However, despite realizing my limitations and fully embracing the life changes that my marriage and new career have brought, I still try to scrape a few hours together to write each week. Whether or not I finish my book and get it published remains to be seen, but I can’t seem to quit trying.''