After graduating from Elizabethtown College in May 2019, Zach Klinedinst will find himself back at Etown once more Sept. 16.

“It’s the exact kind of position I’ve been looking for,” Klinedinst said about the marketing administrator position he applied for in the Office of Marketing and Communications (OMC).

Klinedinst majored in mass communications. Before graduation, he involved himself in multiple student media groups on campus.

He was on the board for both ECTV-40 and WWEC 88.3. In his senior year, he was in charge of ECTV-40 as the station manager, working a lot with broadcast and video production.

He was also the president of the Society of Collegiate Journalists, a national college organization dedicated to promoting fair journalism.
Besides his dedication to student media on campus, Klinedinst furthered his video production experience by doing freelance video work, like wedding videography.

Klinedinst also worked with the High Center for his senior seminar project, putting together uniform graphics for them to produce professional looking videos.

It wasn’t until his last semester that Klinedinst realized what he wanted to do after graduation. He discovered there was a position open in alumni relations, and he began to consider the idea of working in higher education.

Klinedinst said he’d always thought teaching would be interesting, and working in college administration may be a good first step as he navigated that.

“I’ve never had anything but positive experiences with staff and faculty,” Klinedinst said. “It would be hard to find someone I didn’t have a good experience with at Etown.”

According to Klinedinst, he feels more prepared for his position because everyone he interacted with gave him a good sense of how to do that kind of job well. He said he was surrounded by good role models both in the communications department and throughout the rest of the campus.

Klinedinst considers himself a “Jack of all trades” kind of guy. “I’m sort of a generalist,” Klinedinst said. While he says he wouldn’t say he’s great at any one thing, he’s pretty good at a lot of different things.

With the OMC position he secured, Klinedinst will be able to wear a lot of different hats. According to Klinedinst, he’ll essentially serve as assistant to Executive Director of Marketing and Communications Elizabeth Braungard while getting his feet wet in a lot of different duties within the office.

Besides all of these hats that Klinedinst has worn, he wears yet another in his free time. Klinedinst has played guitar for the past 10 years after he taught himself and started his own band. He was inspired by his father, who has been playing in an ‘80s rock cover band called Kasper for the past 30 years. When Klinedinst started college, he left his band. However, when his dad’s band was looking for a new bassist, Klinedinst taught himself bass and started playing with Kasper. He still plays with Kasper now.

Klinedinst has worn a lot of different hats both at Etown and elsewhere, and he says he looks forward to the new one he will get to put on when he starts his position at Etown Sept. 16.