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(WGHP) — Zac Herrin is determined to be something he’s not by being true to himself.

Let me explain. Zac wants to be a professional singer/songwriter. It’s just that he’s not there yet.

“I think I do a great job at hiding just how much that clock is ticking in the back of my head. I’m 24 years old. I have a college degree. For most people, when you get that piece of paper, you’re on a path by then,” Zac said.

While he was working his way through Asheboro High School, Zac rose to the pinnacle of the amateur motocross world and even competed at the Amateur Nationals held each year on country singing legend Loretta Lynn’s farm in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

He later wrote a song about that experience and some friends told him it was good enough that he should try to perform live, which he’s been doing for the last few years.

“For me, it’s determination,” Zac said.  “It’s not being afraid to give everything. I like to tell everybody I’m not afraid to fail, but I can’t live with not knowing, and that’s kind of where I’m at right now.”

The fact that he’s anywhere is something of a minor miracle. Zac points to a scar on his right wrist.

“I was getting ready to do a show in Charleston. I was in a rush trying to get packed. I’m a taller guy…so I bumped my head on this light as I had done a few times before. And when I turned around to try to steady the chain, there was a chunk of the glass falling down, and this chunk just perfectly hit my wrist…and cut 100% of the artery, 100% of the tendon and 90% of the nerve in the bottom side of my wrist. And immediately began to bleed out. Could instantly tell it was a very bad situation…I was able to get to the local fire station just down the street, and they were able to put a full tourniquet on my arm, and I remember asking one of the paramedics ‘I’m going to be okay, right?’ and all he could say is ‘We’ve got to stop the bleeding.’ You could see his concern,” Zac said.

When you ask him how close he was to dying, he says “they told me within three to five minutes. If I didn’t have somebody here to take me to the fire department, I ultimately would have tried to walk, and they told me I never would have made it.”

So as he moves on with his life, he knows being a good singer/songwriter might not be enough in today’s world. He has to develop a following.

“Social media is a beautiful thing. It’s the easiest way to get yourself in front of millions of people,” he said. “Being a musician, you need to put yourself in the spotlight…you need to make sure your image is put out there. It’s something I’ve struggled with. I don’t love to take videos of myself…I feel very awkward doing it, but the social presence has been something…where if you have enough people interested in you online, the companies figure out who you are.”

See what you think of Zac’s talent in this Social Media Stars edition of the Buckley Report.