About

My name is Zach. And I’m over there.

And there is Germany.

If you need advice on how to go from being a secretary to a basketball player, then I’m your guy.

For those of you who don’t know me, yes, I did spend this past year as more or less of a secretary. And yes, my resume says Assistant Academic Advisor instead of secretary. I called myself Triple A. That’s not true. In my defense, I was a damn good one (whatever you want to call me). That’s not true either. I was terribly unprofessional. I stopped wearing shoes to “work.” And I don’t mean I started wearing sandals, I mean I went most of the day walking around barefoot. The only thing less professional than that is getting a tattoo on your neck, and with the money I was making, well, that was simply unaffordable. But so was food and water.

My main work responsibilities were entertaining female Freshman athletes (legally) and not spilling cereal on my desk. I was better at the former than the latter but to have those two activities consume most of my time was more than a secretary Assistant Academic Advisor could ask for. And for that, I have to thank my fellow Comosapiens — Pat, Sarge, Chad, Red, Kassen, Mary Ann, and Jean. You all helped me reach my potential, and I will truly miss the near complete lack of responsibility bestowed upon me.

Coming off of a shitty senior season, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life, and all of my day to day activities were filled with a heavy amount of existential angst.

I was angsty.

The only thing I’ve figured out after a year was that I still don’t know what I want to do with my life and that’s okay. I have some ideas of course, but so much can change between now and the next moment that locking into any such “career path” made me worry that I would miss any serendipitous opportunities that may or may not roll my way. There’s a fine line between security and freedom, and I tend to lean towards William Wallace.

The other only thing I figured out was that the most important things in my life were/are family and friends. That realization, combined with the fact that I had to have shoulder surgery, greatly influenced my decision to stay in South Bend and take somewhat of a fifth year. Although sometimes being in South Bend sucked (read: Winter) it was great to have some of my family and friends around as I transitioned from being a Senior in college to a Freshman in life. But after spending five years and six summers in South Bend under the watchful gaze of the hypocritically expensive Golden Dome, I’m ready to leave.

And where I’m going is Germany. To play basketball.

For 8 1/2 months.

I’m both excited and nervous and I look forward to sharing my experiences here with anyone who wants to read them.