My name is Zach Engstrom. I am 37 years old, currently live and have grown up in the Willmar, MN area. I work at the local Menards store in the Plumbing Department as part time help. I am going to college at Ridgewater for Web Programming. I plan to graduate in the Spring of 2013.

In the summer of 2005, after high school I moved to York, NE to attend college at York College which is Church of Christ based. I was there through the fall semester of 2007 aspiring to get my AA Degree. While there I took several classes that were geared towards teaching and computers with the thought that I might be a high school computer technology teacher. I worked at Walmart as a cashier for the first year and a half and after that I worked for Cornerstone Bank at their Technology Center as a Computer Technician for a year.

I moved back home just before Christmas of 2007. My plan was to finish my AA Degree at Ridgewater College, however I ended up taking a two year break from school. During that two year break I was hired at Menards as a cashier. I soon moved up to Assistant Manager of the Front End and shortly after that I moved to Assistant Manager of the Millwork Department. I spent the majority of those two years out of school in this position. Being an Assistant Department Manager (both in the Front End and Millwork) taught me several things. I learned how to deal with large amounts of money, schedule several employees with payroll in mind, handle customer issues, sell product efficiently, market product in the store and be a responsible employee of a large company.

With the support of family and friends and a newly discovered motivation I decided it was time to get myself back into school to finish my AA Degree. In the Fall of 2010 I stepped down from Assistant Manager of Millwork to part time in the Plumbing Department in an effort to focus on my studies. I successfully earned my degree in the Spring of 2011. At this point it was time to make a career choice. I have always been computer savvy and I remembered taking Web Design back in high school. I enjoyed working with HTML code and Adobe Photoshop. So, I decided to go to school for Web Programming. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I didn't realize how many coding languages I would have to learn and how many aspects there are to making websites. I do not regret my decision in the slightest though. I am in my last semester and I love what I am doing. I have realized that a 2-year degree is just the tip of the iceberg, but I am anxious and motivated to learn! I am excited for my future!

Some other things that I enjoy doing is spending time with family and friends. I like to play cards, board games, go bowling, play baseball/softball, throw darts, play volleyball, watch movies and have get-togethers for events such as the Daytona 500 or the Super Bowl. I also like to hunt and fish. Another passion that I have is building, constructing and making things. For example last year I welded myself a trailer and made myself a portable collapsible fish house. Something else that I really enjoy is home and car audio. I have installed a couple of surround sound systems into my house and several different sound systems into my vehicles.

After graduating college I would like to pursue a job making websites. I am not picky as to what company that I work for or where they are located. I would prefer to work under a Senior Programmer or Web Developer, but I am not limited to such a position.