With his mother and father's blessing, Jabari participated in a student exchange program at the age of 15 that took him away from his village for the first time. While he lived and attended school in Egypt, Zareb was exposed to the various technologies and knowledge that would one day encompass his life. As expected, Jabari learned quickly and made years of progress in just nine months. However, it wasn't until he visited an orbiting starship at the end of his term that he knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

Once back in Ghana, young Zareb made an intensive effort to learn all he could about Starfleet and Starfleet engineering, with the full support of his family. Although they had made a concerted effort to keep their own lives simple, they believed that Jabari's path was his to choose. By the age 17, Jabari tested for Starfleet Academy. Though the exam administrators were impressed with the sum of technological knowledge he displayed in spite of a late start, they ultimately decided to delay his admission in the interest of giving Zareb the chance to 'round out' his education. Rather than wait for another examination cycle to gain entrance as a Cadet, Jabari decided to enter Starfleet as an enlisted man and he began his Basic Training at the Academy later that same year.

While at Starfleet Academy, Jabari met a student from Berkeley named Grace Miller. With his enlisted track being only half as long as the full Academy experience, the couple felt the pressure of time and decided to marry prior to his completion of Basic Training. By the time Jabari began his secondary training as a Hull and Structure Specialist, the Zarebs already had their first child on the way.

Jabari served with distinction as an Engineer's Mate aboard the USS Centaur for three years before transferring to the USS Saratoga. He spent six years rising through the enlisted ranks before that ship was destroyed in the Battle of Wolf 359. The Saratoga was one of only a few ships that managed to launch escape pods and even fewer of them managed to avoid assimilation by the Borg invaders. All told, 39 starships and over 11,000 people were lost.

Following the devastation, Starfleet had a shortage of qualified personnel; offering experienced enlisted an opportunity to become commissioned officers. Zareb had continued his education throughout his career and he received a field promotion to Ensign upon his transfer to the USS Ghandi. Zareb has always sought to further his knowledge and has encouraged others to do the same. Besides two civilian Bachelor degrees, he has completed Starfleet's Advanced Warp Theory, Command School, and Starship Design. It was his final course work in AWT that lead to his first nomination for the Cochrane Medal of Excellence.

Zareb did not believe starships to be safe places for family. Grace and the children never lived with him but made their home on various stations and planets to which his ships were attached. The only significant time they spent with Jabari was during his occasional educational sojourns to Starfleet Academy. Throughout their marriage, Grace had begged her husband to request a long-term planetary or space station assignment, increasing these pleas when the Dominion War began in 2373. A year later, Grace finally had enough of the Starfleet life and filed for divorce. Ironically, the filing was only some months prior to then-Lieutenant Zareb being accepted to Starfleet Starship Design, a four-year educational program for Design Engineers that he managed to complete in just three years. Although they were no longer a couple during that time, Grace chose to live near her ex-husband so that their children would continue to have access to their father.

Upon completion of Starfleet Starship Design, Zareb was promoted and assigned to Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards as a Special Projects Manager, overseeing the development of new shipboard technologies as well as refits of existing ships. Notably, he spent most of the last two years in development of a new starship class designed to address possible Romulan aggression. However, recent events in the Federation have mothballed that project while Lieutenant Commander Zareb goes on a temporary field assignment.

Lieutenant Commander Zareb has passed the Bridge Officer Exam as part of the Command School curriculum but lacks the minimum time in rank for promotion to full Commander. He does have an interest in one day commanding the ships he helps to build but it is a desire he keeps to himself. Otherwise, he is completely content serving as a Starfleet as a designer and engineer.

Lieutenant Commander Zareb currently holds Bachelors Degrees in both Structural Engineering and Warp Propulsion as well as a Doctorate in Design Engineering. This background along with his work at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards makes him intimately familiar with the systems of a wide variety of ship classes. His knowledge about all things engineering could be best described as encyclopedic though he does make a concerted effort to temper that desire to display that knowledge. He does his best to come off as competent without seeming arrogant.

If Zareb has a soft spot, it is reserved for fellow engineers and enlisted personnel: Engineers share his passion and speak his language like no one else in the fleet while enlisted are often given thankless jobs devoid of glory. His experiences with both and as both have led him to treat these deserving personnel with humble respect.

While still an enlisted man, superior officers took to calling then-Petty Officer Zareb "Jeb" as a kind of combination of his first and last names. The nickname stuck and his superiors at Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards still call him that to this day. He has never cared for the name but says nothing to his superiors who use it. Subordinate officers are highly recommended to refrain from calling Jabari 'Jeb'.

Zareb speaks Federation Standard with a slight Ghanan accent and speaks slowly and careful, as if each word has great weight.