The Journey of becoming a Servant Leader and striving to life a worth living in honor began when a family passed away. In the corner of the room was a family member by themselves grieving the loss alone. Exhibiting qualities of compassion and love would drive a young Zach at the age of five to spend time with the family member without instructions from his parents. This would be the beginning of learning the importance of empowerment, active listening and understanding the needs of other people. The next area of growth would come on a family vacation trip to Alaska. The family tradition of having a small reunion every five years where everyone comes together to spend a weekend together. This would be an important milestone as he demonstrates a strong family belief of spending time together and checking in on loved ones. Utilizing a walkie talkie he would check on his grandparents as he did not want them to be alone prior to dinner time. The story would continue to move forward in spending time with his father teaching youth bowling, soup kitchens and two life changing mission trips.

There are two mission trips that would serve as reminders for the rest of his life of the importance of meeting people where they are at and having a compassionate heart. Both of these trips were in the Senior Year of High School. The first trip was at Detroit where they would assist in cleaning up areas and deciding how to use the proceeds to help people in need, especially as this would be the first leadership position. The team would delegate on how to best use the funds to help people. For example, a man would needed repairs on his lawn mover as he helped out the community with cutting lawns. In addition, to delegation also learning how to best include people in activities that had some socializing challenges. There was a young man in the church group that presented some challenges and his parents reminded Zach to watch out for him as the young man’s parents outreached out to Zach’s parents for support. He would learn the young man’s needs and how would include them into activities as well as finding ways to help them complete tasks that matched their capabilities. Once the tasks were completed, a high five was provided as a sign of both inclusion as well as doing a job well done.

Zach exhibits a gift of knowing people’s needs and how to include them that matches their capabilities. For example, during his Sophmore Year of High School, he was allowed into a sociology class that is typically reserved for Juniors/Seniors. The teacher allowed him in and would be grateful they allowed this rare exception. For there was a student who presented challenges as they had Tourette’s Syndrome. Zach at the time did not understand the syndrome, however, took the time needed to understand them by actively listening as well as incorporating them into the project. For example, the individual works well with music and it helps them to regulate their thoughts/feelings. Zach would encourage the student to take a break when they were being over stimulated and then welcome them back when they were calmer. The instructor was pleased with the level of patience, compassion and understanding Zach exhibited.

He would venture onwards of attending Eastern Michigan University (EMU) where he graduated in 2015 with a Bachelor’s in Social Work and a Minor in Psychology with Magna Cum Laude Honors. One of the most important feats he would take on during the time at EMU would be advocacy. It is taught in social worker and in life if you cannot advocate for yourself, then how can you advocate for others. Zach with the guidance from one of his teachers would intern at an elementary school. School internships are typically reserved for clinicians seeking to complete their masters. However, Zach was able to locate and obtain an internship that would provide the gateway for other Bachelor level students to have internships through networking an important feature in developing leadership skills. During his internship, Zach would learn about evidence based programs such as Second Step, Social Stories and Restorative Justice Techniques to bring about an understanding of various people along with learning how to communicate thoughts/feelings that would bring about conflict resolution. The next step in his studies would be at Michigan University (MSU) where he would intern at Chance at Childhood and Bath Elementary/Middle School. Chance at Childhood, he would learn about custody/guardianships reviews and how to collab with students who are seeking to become outstanding lawyers in the future with a mission on serving the public. In addition, he would learn how to bring families together through Supervised Parenting time. Zach has always been an overachiever and would volunteer his time to attend an event at the law school to teach others about an opportunity to serve with Chance At Childhood. His second internship would be at another school learning how to make improvements. One of the lifelong improvements was establishing a connection with a working relationship with Meijer and the school system was implementing a Healthy Food Cart. Children learn best when they have a healthy meal and have a satisfied stomach. Zach has always been interested in health and nutrition along with working to people needs. The relationship between the local Meijer and Bath Middle School continues to this day according to his mentor, whom they still remain in contact to this day.