From Afghanistan to Chapel Hill

There are many amazing stories among the thousands of incoming students at Carolina for the fall semester, including Zach Johnson’s course to UNC.

The 25-year-old has not followed a typical path to the Carolina campus.

“I don’t think I’m too much different than any other student,” he says. “But my story is a little bit different in the sense that I didn’t go straight into college when I was 18; I joined the military on my 18th birthday.

“I was finishing up high school, and I just wanted something different. I was trying to challenge myself. I was young and thought I was invincible, that led me to sign up for the Marines.”

Johnson says seeing everything that was going on in Afghanistan made him want to get involved.

“By the time I was 20 years old, I was over there,” he says. “I completed one deployment, and I came back home [and] heard about the bomb-dog handling position opening up.

“That’s how I met Gus.”

Gus is the Golden Labrador Retriever Johnson was matched up with after telling instructors that he wanted a challenge. The relationship between human and canine didn’t get off on the best foot.

“When we got to the kennel – you can’t see the dogs, you can only hear them – there’s about 35 dogs and there’s one growl that you can hear over all the rest of them,” he says. “They looked at me and said, ‘You hear that growl? That’s your dog.’

“He’s an unassuming looking dog, a beautiful golden retriever, and I went in there and he bit me on the hand on the first day.”

After their initial relationship troubles, Johnson says Gus was an amazingly loyal dog for a year and half, joining Johnson on hundreds of patrols and searches before retiring in 2012.

Johnson joined the Carolina Student Transfer Excellence Program after enrolling at Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington. Now that his transfer to Chapel Hill is complete, he has eyes on another challenge.

“Next goal is to earn my place into Kenan-Flagler,” he says. “I think Chapel Hill has one of the best business programs in the country, especially for undergrads.

“I’ve had my eyes on that prize since I applied for C-STEP about a year and a half ago at Cape Fear.”

Johnson adds there is one part of the Chapel Hill experience, outside of the classroom opportunity, that he is most looking forward to.

“I keep hearing about Halloween night on Franklin Street,” he says. “Everywhere I go I hear about Halloween on Franklin Street.”

And while a final costume decision hasn’t been made, he says a military-theme is highly likely.

From Afghanistan to Chapel Hill

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