By: Olivia Oxholm
Zachary Michael Dunlop saunters into the Espresso Roma coffee shop in Eugene, Oregon on November 1st, 2017. Carrying the lunch he has just picked up, he’s clad in athletic clothing, coming from his morning dance class. He sits down and looks up with a smile, his demeanor warm and relaxed.
This is a typical day for Zach, grabbing lunch on the go between his 8-10 hours of classes and rehearsals. He’s 25 years old, studying in his third year as a dance major at the University of Oregon. While this might seem like an intense schedule for the average student, Zach is not your average student, nor is he your average person.
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Zach made his first move to Little Rock, Arkansas at the age of two. Since then, he has traveled to 16 different countries and lived in 18 different cities. At 17, he moved out of the house to live on his own. Shortly after, he joined the military, where he would spend the next four years working in aviation.
After the military, Zach and his buddy, Austin McDaris, decided that the Pacific Northwest would be the next step. The day they were released, they made the 16-hour drive straight to Oregon. Arriving in Eugene on February 4th, 2015, they started at U of O the next fall.
Zach began his UO career with International Studies. He was taking the required courses, but something didn’t feel right. Not long into his studies, he took a course titled “Looking at Dance” where students got to sample different types of dance. This class reminded Zach of being a kid, dancing hip hop with his friends in the south, or learning to shuffle and performing on the boardwalks of San Diego. Dancing, Zach said, is “the only time I can find that peaceful, nothing-else-matters type of experience.” It was thanks to this class, he claimed, that he was able to reignite his passion for dance and study something he loves.
Looking ahead, Zach knows he is not the type to make definite plans. What he does know, is that he’s enjoying his time studying dance and feels it’s something that suits him well. This was confirmed by Austin, the friend from the military who still remains his roommate to this day. When asked if he was surprised to see Zach studying dance, Austin replied, “Nope. I wasn’t surprised because I know who he is. I don’t see him sitting in a class studying a thesis.” For Zach, studying dance doesn’t simply allow him to learn about dance everyday, but also himself. It helps him investigate and better himself as person. For Zach, there is no better way to live.