User:Macgyver1824/Zach Vander Velden

Zachary Mark Vander Velden (born 5 April 1995) is a student-athlete at Sturgeon Bay High School, where he is a member of the football, basketball, and baseball teams. He is also a star in the classroom, earning a 3.8 GPA in his first semester of high school with minimal effort. He is known by some as one of the best Facebook statusers of all-time and is also an above average fisherman and hunter, having shot a beautiful 7 point buck in his first ever deer hunt.

Early Life
Zach was born to parents Glen and Kathy Vander Velden in Sturgeon Bay, WI, where he has lived his entire life. As a youngster, Zach idolized his bigger, smarter, cooler, better looking, older brothers – Ben and Jake. He began his musical career at 18 months of age, banging pots and pans together in scrumtralescent harmony. Shortly thereafter, Zach began his organized athletic career at age 5 as a member of the Green T-ball team, coached by his father, Glen Vander Velden who is a hall of fame softball coach at Southern Door High School.

Athletic Career
After T-Ball, Zach became an all-star second baseman for the Baylake Bankers of the Sturgeon Bay Cal Ripken League and then for Wolf Brothers Heating and Cooling in Sturgeon Bay's Babe Ruth League. Zach has also been a life-long football and basketball player. Most recently, he was a member of the freshman football and basketball teams at Sturgeon Bay High School, both of which won the Packerland conference titles in the 2009-2010 school year.

Musical Career
In addition to his accomplishments in the classroom and on the athletic field, Zach is an expert pianist. Some of his specialties are playing the theme songs from the Office and Mario Brothers as well as Hot Cross Buns, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and many other classics.

Zachary, like his awesome older brothers, played the clarinet during his first year attending T.J. Walker Middle School. He soon after moved on to the alto saxophone, which he played for the remainder of his middle school career. Unfortunately for many, he decided to discontinue the use of his woodwind musical skills upon graduation of the 8th grade.

Hobbies
In his spare time, Zach can be seen doing a plethora of different activities ranging from playing video games to playing poker. He is known by many people as a "jack of all trades", and tends to be good at everything he does.

During the pre-Playstation 3 Era, Zach became an expert in not only first person shooters (Halo 2, Halo 3, Call of Duty 4, Call of Duty 5, etc.), but any sports game known to man. Things changed slightly upon the release of the Playstation 3. Zach now spends a significant portion of his free time playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Zach also plays poker quite frequently. Growing up, he adhered to a poker playing lifestyle that his brothers enstilled in him. Like his two awesome older brothers, Zach learned how to read players as well as anyone in his generation. He understands the game better than most, and might even be bound for the World Series of Poker in his future.

Work Life
Growing up, Zach always looked up to his awesome older brothers. When his oldest brother, Ben, started a boat washing business in 2007, Zach did whatever he could do to help. In 2009, he landed himself a part-time job with the company, where he worked as a washer for the summer. The company was recently passed down to Jake, his second oldest brother, who will more than likely employ Zach in the coming summers.

Awards
In the fall of 2008, Zach won the T.J. Walker Middle School Big Buck Contest

Won a cash prize for his literary genius with his poem entitled "My Brother Ben"

Won the Darrell Schram Mathematics Award in 2009 as the top math student in his 8th grade class

Won numerous baseball all-star awards and championships