Petty Officer Zak Mbhele (3rd Class) was born and grew up on Earth in the United States of Africa to part-time Starfleet Academy lecturers. Though they discouraged him from joining Starfleet (they worried about him turning into a Starfleet brat having been lecturers there themselves), he enrolled at the Academy nonetheless, initially intending to major in xenobiology and fractal calculus. After one semester of heavy disillusionment, he forcefully ejected that idea and took the rest of the year off, finding himself a 4-month stint on a Ferengi freighter (another idea his parents weren't so keen on but it proved to be invaluable in terms of the networking and contacts he made). He returned to the Academy the following year and pursued a Science degree with a third major in Alpha Quadrant politics which he obtained with Cum Laude honours.

 

After graduating, he was posted on the USS Yosemite as Assistant Science Techinician for six months as part of its scientific exploration mission in the Gargotian system. He then received a transfer to the USS Dauntless at the end of that mission. Soon after joining the ship, he received a promotion from Crewman to Petty Officer 3rd Class. As a Dauntless crewmember, he prefers bridge duty to lab duty because it affords him the opportunity to observe the humourous idiosyncracies of the command staff. When off-duty, he likes to spend time on the holodeck or off-ship trying out new alien clubs that serve previously unknown cocktails and shooters. The Ship's Doctor has warned him about his excessive off-duty partying but until it adversely affects his work, there have been no restrictions enforced on his R&R activities.