For Zachary D., coming to Austin Community College District (ACC) wasn\u2019t just about getting a degree\u2014it was about following a dream. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I was 21, I joined the Navy and was in for 5 years. I moved to Austin and started working as a medical assistant at an urgent care [facility]. Within one year, I joined the Radio-Television-Film (RTF) program at ACC.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 27-year-old started in ACC in spring 2023. While he originally saw the RTF program as a stepping stone, it became the launching point for his passion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI originally started as a transfer student to transfer to the University of Texas at Austin. After starting the film program here, I fell in love with how hands-on everything was and decided to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This experience has allowed Zachary to immerse himself with other students and put those creative skills to the test.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWorking in a creative field allows you to work with so many other amazing people and see the world, and art, from so many different ways. Making my first short film was honestly a blast, as is any time I’m on set. It’s one of the fastest ways to get to know someone and to be their friend!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Zachary, timing and opportunity aligned. His Veterans Affairs benefits made college possible, and ACC\u2019s immersive RTF program gave him the creative space to thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI could pay for college and get money back from it. It was time to start being me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His story captures the spirit of It\u2019s Your Time\u2014ACC\u2019s campaign celebrating students who are stepping up, betting on themselves, and building their future on their own terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI’ve wanted to be involved with film since I was a kid, and so being able to find a place that allows me to fulfill that dream is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now Zachary has his sights set on the big screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI’m trying to direct a feature film. I know that’s a huge undertaking but it’s what I want to do, so what’s stopping me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s Your Time to start this fall at ACC. For more information, visit austincc.edu\/fall<\/a>. For more information on the RTF program, visit austincc.edu\/rtf<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For Zachary D., coming to Austin Community College District (ACC) wasn\u2019t just about getting a degree\u2014it was about following a dream. \u201cWhen I was 21, I joined the Navy and was in for 5 years. I moved to Austin and started working as a medical assistant at an urgent care [facility]. Within one year, I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":51213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1040,599,133,134],"class_list":["post-51212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-stories","tag-fall-2025","tag-its-your-time","tag-radio-television-film","tag-rtf","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51212\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.austincc.edu\/infohub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}