Reggie Zorg '04 came to St. Ambrose with a curious mind and the heart of an intrepid explorer.
A self-recruited Fighting Bees basketball player from the tiny South American nation of Suriname, Zorg also came with an affinity for the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons and an inexplicable lack of appreciation for a Mr. Michael Jordan.
But say this for the curious explorer: He can learn.
"I loved those guys because they were the archrival of the Bulls," Zorg said of a "Bad Boys" attitude that was never going to fly three hours west of Chicago. "When I came to the U.S., I started understanding how good Michael Jordan was."
At St. Ambrose, Zorg came to understand - and appreciate - so much more about the country he long viewed as the land of opportunity.
"It's great when you're on the outside, looking to see the opportunities," he said. "But when you are finally in the U.S. and surrounded by opportunity, it's a totally different ballgame. The longer I stayed here, the more I saw that becoming successful is really up to the individual."
Today, Zorg is a confirmed Quad Citian, a husband and a father working fulltime in his chosen field of engineering but with a side business in the bold new world of digital marketing.
Those vocations may seem unrelated to some, but that's because most people don't see what the curious and driven Reggie Zorg sees.
"I like looking at what opportunities are out there," he explained of his decision to launch the digital marketing firm ZorgTek.com in June of 2017. "I am an entrepreneur by heart so when I see trends, I try to take advantage. Right now, social marketing is a really hot trend."
More than just promoting digital advertising, ZorgTek is helping business clients gain new kinds of visibility through search engine optimization and other digital strategies.
How does that fit with a St. Ambrose engineering degree?
"It mirrors it," Zorg said. "Really, engineering is a lot about problem-solving and executing projects, getting to the end goal."
In a way, that describes the journey Zorg set out on 20 years ago, when he approached his countryman, Rineo Vlijter, about joining him as a Fighting Bee basketball player. Soon enough, Bees head coach Ray Shovlain was on the phone.
Not long after, Zorg was on campus and exploring a brand-new world.
"St. Ambrose was a good challenge for me," Zorg said. "I don't think I would have thrived in a bigger classroom setting. I needed that personal interaction."
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