About Zach
I grew up in a small town in eastern North Carolina. This rural setting contributed so much to the way I now view the world, and ultimately, it was likely the tight‐knit community in which I grew up that enabled me to overcome the odds and create a successful life for myself and my family. My father passed away when I was young, and for the rest of my childhood, it was just my mom and me. My community, especially the community I found at church, was incredibly important to my social and cognitive development. I was homeschooled, and the friends I made at church, in Scouting, and in other extracurricular activities were instrumental in creating my worldview. The leaders I found in these activities and organizations were just as important, and many of them remain influential in my life to this day. None of this could make up for the loss of my father, but I retained sufficient memories of him to help me indepently set a direction for my life.
For many years, I was primarily interested in social science. Politics captivated me in high school, and after spending two-years as a volunteer missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I began my university studies as a Political Science major at Brigham Young University in January of 2017. I quickly discovered that this was not where I wanted to be or what I wanted to be doing. After taking some time away to work, save money and “find myself,” I made the decision to transfer to Brigham Young University-Idaho as an online student majoring in Marriage and Family Studies. I felt this major offered an opportunity to channel my interest in social science into something meaningful.
While pursuing this degree, I met and married my sweetheart, Rylee. Within about three years, we were the parents of two children and a spunky German Sheprador named Sadie. It was a busy, wonderful, chaotic, amazing time. I was coming to the end of my degree program, and I was still working in the same industry that I'd started in while studying at BYU: grocery. I'd been a grocery assistant manager for nearly seven years, and while my earnings were steadily increasing, the rapid inflation following the COVID‐19 pandemic and the relatively low wages available in the grocery business made it difficult to support my growing family.
In the summer before the final semester of my undergraduate program, I found myself facing a difficult decision about the future of my education. One option involved transfering again, losing two thirds of my credits, and beginning a course of study with a greater ROI. (It was during this time that I began to study coding and web devleopment.) For obvious reasons, this course was not ideal. Another option involved sticking to my original plan of becoming a counselor, finishing my undergraduate degree at BYU-Idaho, and seeking admittance to a graduate degree program in Marriage and Family Therapy. By this time, I was disillusioned with the field of marriage and family therapy, and while my education was a boon to my young family, I no longer had a passion for applying this knowledge to my professional pursuits. After much consideration and a lot of prayer, I made the decision to begin an agressive pursuit of a business career, beginning with a move back across the country to North Carolina. I knew there was opportunity to grow with my previous company there, so my family and I packed up and returned to my old hometown. I finished my four‐year degree in Marriage and Family Studies and prepared to seek admittance to an MBA program.
I eventually got the promotion I hoped for when moving to North Carolina, and I have been managing a Piggly Wiggly grocery store for a little over a year. It was at this point that I decided to shift my educational focus away from career progression and onto personal enrichment and development. To that end, I researched various programs and decided to work toward admittance to the online ALM program through the Harvard Extension School. I am presently waiting on the results from my first attempt at the Test of Critical Reading and Writing Skills, which will determine the admittance course in which I will enroll first. I am looking forward to documenting my experience in this new and exciting chapter.