![\"UMW](\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/04\/Zach1_HP-1024x413.jpg\")
<\/p>\nClimb the steep stairs to Zach Kerns\u2019 room, and you\u2019re only halfway. The next hurdle is the closet. In the foyer, which he turned into a wardrobe, you\u2019ll skim past racks full of dress shirts, a set of silk ties and a choo-choo of shoes \u2013 AllSaints, Common Projects and Prada.<\/p>\n
Clothes might not make the man, but for this UMW junior, style certainly counts.<\/p>\n
A business major and model with a future in fashion merchandising, he\u2019s determined to get all sides of the industry under his slick leather belt. And while Mary Washington and its offerings, like last winter\u2019s business-law program in Chile, have helped make that happen, Kerns has been busy returning the favor. With his speed on the track, and his face on UMW bus wraps and mall signs, this blond-haired, blue-eyed sprinter can\u2019t turn down a chance to talk up his school.<\/p>\n
\u201cI probably care a little too much,\u201d he said, crossing his cheetah-print kicks and tugging at his two-tone Saks sweater during an interview at the Hurley Convergence Center. \u201cMary Washington\u2019s given me so much. It\u2019s another way I can give back.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Growing up in Loudoun County, Va., Kerns was an all-sports athlete and a wannabe architect. Before high school, though, two things \u2013 a trip and a fall \u2013 would change his trajectory. The trip, a month with his grandfather in China, was a crash course in business that opened his eyes to another career. The fall, a rock-climbing mishap that crushed two bones in his arm, was an omen that kept him from contact sports.<\/p>\n
While he healed, Kerns turned to running, and when the cast finally came off, so did the pretense. \u201cI realized I could be the fastest on the basketball court or I could be the fastest where it really counts most \u2013 on the track,\u201d he said. Recruited by longtime UMW track and field coach Stan Soper, Kerns crushed a school record during his first Mary Washington meet, running the 300-meter dash in 35.49 seconds.<\/p>\n
He was quick off the block on campus, too, joining the Student Athlete Advisory Council and the honorary business society Sigma Beta Delta. He\u2019s served as a UMW brand ambassador, appearing on ads and in Mary Washington\u2019s first-ever TV commercial; interned with upscale online retailer Gilt; and signed up to study abroad.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a good representative of UMW overseas and as an American,\u201d said attorney and Mary Washington senior lecturer Kimberley Kinsley, who led Kerns and others on a recent two-week business-law trip to Chile. \u201cHe\u2019s truly a leader. He\u2019s confident and <\/em>humble, and that\u2019s what\u2019s refreshing.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s that combination that helped Kerns land his former role as a rep for trendy clothes line Abercrombie & Fitch, where his job was to lure shoppers with his GQ good looks, 6-foot-3 height and that signature A&F question: \u201cHey, what\u2019s up?\u201d He\u2019ll model this summer, for Naked D\u00e9cor and Britches of Georgetowne, but it isn\u2019t his first choice of professions.<\/p>\n \u201cModeling seems fun but it isn\u2019t,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not as rewarding as other things I could be doing with my time.\u201d<\/p>\n Like what? Next up for Kerns is another internship, this one with contemporary fashion label Theory. And he has big post-Mary Washington plans \u2013 earn an executive MBA, launch a fashion-merchandising career in New York or L.A., and move into the \u201cC-suite.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a millennial,\u201d he said, blue eyes twinkling. \u201cI want to rule the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" UMW track star is suited for business <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":19233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-show","8":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"UMW](\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2016\/04\/Zach2_HP-1024x413.jpg\")
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