Even if you do not know Hope College student-athlete Jeff Zita, you might be aware of his artistic work.
The junior from Douglas, Michigan, and Holland Christian High School drew national attention last winter for his aerial photography of a frozen Lake Michigan near the Big Red lighthouse.
The stunning images, captured by attaching a GoPro camera to a Phantom Drone, provided a rare view of a Michigan treasure. They also put on display Zita's diverse talents, passions and education.
Zita was profiled in the October 14 edition of News From Hope College. Click here to read the magazine and see more of Zita's photography.
A swimmer since the age of six, Zita is fascinated with water. A photography lover, he relishes taking pictures, particularly from different angles. A self-described technology geek, he loves to work with the newest innovations. A mechanical engineering major, he loves to study objects, how they are put together and how they can be modified to become even more helpful.
It is a full plate, but one that Zita prefers.
"It's challenging. I know I need to keep my priorities straight," Zita said. "School's first, then swimming. I like to have a social life. There are a lot of different activities, and they're all kind of intertwined. If I'm sacrificing too much time on my friends or my interests in drones, I realize I need to take a step back and refocus on school or swimming.
"I need to make sure I maintain a good balance between them all."
Zita is a returning All-Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association First Team swimmer for the Flying Dutchmen. Hope's season began on Saturday, Oct. 18, when the college hosted the MIAA Relays at Holland Community Aquatic Center.
Long-time Hope swimming & diving head coach Dr. John Patnott admits he is impressed with how Zita is able to handle everything on his schedule.
"It's a little bit of a mystery to me. He's always doing something," Dr. Patnott said. "He has taken care of his schoolwork. He has three-and-a-half hours of swimming every day in season. He also has time to do his other things. He's just a highly organized young person with good time management so he can fit it all in. He is fun. He is very busy."
Zita is an engineer at swimming as well, Dr. Patnott said.
"He is always looking at his stroke, asking for help," he said. "He filmed himself underwater last season. He was trying to get everything right."
Zita's curiosity serves him well, said Dr. Roger Veldman '89, chairperson of Hope's department of engineering.
"He is interested in a lot of different things," Dr. Veldman said. "His interest in engineering technology goes well beyond the classroom. He is curious to learn more all the time."
Dr. Veldman said Zita helps himself further by seeing beyond what is directly in front of him, particularly when it comes to the latest technology.
"Jeff looks at how something functions, but he is also interested in the bigger picture," Dr. Veldman said. "He looks at the application of the technology and how the technology applies to meet needs. He is very current of what the broader issues are with drones and how drones are going to interact with society as a larger whole."
Zita is grateful for the opportunity to be an NCAA Division III student-athlete at a college like Hope, where the focus is on more than just athletic success. Student-athletes are encouraged to pursue their educational, spiritual and personal pursuits at Hope in addition to their athletic ones.
"Because of the classes I've taken and other things, I can easily relate to how it's all designed and put together," Zita said. "It's worth it to me having the education here at Hope while being able to have extracurricular activities and interests."
Course offerings and personal flexibility have broadened Zita's knowledge base and helped him explore different areas like drone photography, he said.
Zita has taken apart and put back together the drone he has used. He also modified a drone to attach a camera to it and make adjustments to how it is utilized.
"We have a little TV screen that gives you a live stream of the camera on the drone. It's hard to do the remote control and holding the screen at the same time. You want to be doing that simultaneously," Zita said. "I designed a bracket that held the TV monitor onto my remote control. Things that seem quite simple, but I took a lot of time to get all the dimensions down."
A 3-D printer, one of Hope's many resources for students, also has been helpful for Zita.
"One part broke on my drone once. It costs $50 to buy a new part," Zita said. "I designed and printed it on Autocad 3-printer. It didn't cost more than 70 cents for a plastic replacement."
Zita is looking forward to exploring new horizons with his drone photography, expanding his hobby into a business (Z-Drones) this past summer.
"I've had lots of people contacting me recently," Zita said this summer. "People have been wanting me to film concerts. I've been shooting a lot of homes.
"It's definitely a new industry that's developing. It's going to be big, I think, in the future."
