Marine Officer Zach Iscol '97 Inspires Many With Assembly Speech

Zach Iscol ‘97, a former decorated Marine officer and Iraq veteran, received a standing ovation from Academy students and faculty after concluding his assembly speech on overcoming failure this past Tuesday.

In addition to being a veteran, Iscol is the CEO and founder of Hirepurpose, an interactive career guide and digital marketing platform created to help companies hire top military talent. He also currently occupies the position of Executive Director of the Headstrong Project, a NYC based non-profit organization located at the Weill Cornell Medical Center, that gives bureaucracy and stigma free state of the art treatment for veterans who have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Iscol previously spoke at the Academy in 2008. History instructor Jack Herney, who kept in contact with Iscol after his graduation and the first speech, felt that his message was strong enough to warrant reinvitation.

“Knowing that he speaks from the heart, that he is driven by an authentic commitment to the welfare of others and that he speaks in personal terms, I figured what he had to say would meet with great respect from the audience,” Herney said.

Religion instructor Kathleen Brownback, with whom Iscol met to settle on a topic, commended his exceptional speaking abilities, which were complemented by unique and interesting experiences. She knew students would be fascinated by his speech.

“He spoke once before, as he said, and was excellent—as I thought he was today,” she said. “His sense of humor and humility, combined with a courageous story to tell, seemed valuable for all of us to hear.”

Despite having already once spoken at the Academy, Iscol described Herney’s offer as an irrefusable invitation.

“I love coming back to campus, seeing how much it has changed, yet remained the same, and especially love connecting with my old teachers, sharing stories and catching up,” he said. “Exeter was a formative experience and to be able to continue to even play a small part of that in the community today is a huge honor. I’d never miss an opportunity to come back.”

When Iscol spoke in 2008, he delivered a speech regarding his Iraq wartime experiences. This time, however, he chose to shift the focus of his speech from the war itself to life post-combat. In addition to recounting his and other veterans’ experience postwar, he spoke about failure.

At an institution such as Exeter, Iscol hoped that explaining his failures would assuage many of the fears of Exonians, whom he described as people who “have not experienced many failures.”

“I remember being a student at Exeter and as a young teenager, you can easily think that any mistake or failure is going to affect the rest of your life,” he said. “Well, the truth is, those failures can end up having an incredibly positive effect on the rest of your life if you learn and grow from those experiences.”

Prep Dylan Yin said that Iscol was one of the best assembly speakers he had yet heard. By explaining that failures are often predecessors to growth, Iscol taught Yin to “take each problem and obstacle as a challenge and not a stressor. This way there is post traumatic growth and not stress,” he said.

In addition to talking about failure, Iscol further explained the concept of Exeter’s motto, “non-sibi,” adding that it is not enough to simply be “not for oneself;” instead, he said that we ought to know, if we are not for ourselves, whom we are for.

Science instructor Townley Chisholm agreed with Iscol on the significance of this main point. “[Iscol’s] main point about living full lives for other people who can’t [was very powerful],” he said. “Probably we shouldn’t need such reminders, but his stories made the daily routine here look quite wonderful in comparison, and I was glad to listen and reflect.”

Herney said that Iscol’s speech had him “on the verge of tears more than once.” Although he had known the basic outline, Herney was surprised to hear some of the stories Iscol used to explain his commitment to the “fundamental idea of ‘who do you live for?’”

Likewise, upper Evan Xiang noted Iscol’s skill of keeping the listeners’ attention. She commended his main point as both significant and unique.

“I thought his point about living ‘not only for oneself, but also for other people’ was interesting and thought-provoking, at least for me, because it wasn’t really something I ever considered before,” she said.

This concept of “non-sibi” that Iscol has promoted throughout his military career found its origin in the very seats of the assembly hall in which he spoke.

After having taught him as a student, Herney expressed his pride that Exeter fostered Iscol to be the man he is today.

“[It was] so gratifying to see an Exonian live by some commendable values,” he said. “I’m immensely proud of him and know, from our conversations, that Exeter made a great and very positive impact on the person he is today.”