“I picked the T-TEN automotive program because Toyota has been a part of my life since I was young,” Owen Becker said. “I knew I wanted to pursue it.”
After graduating from ROCORI High School in Cold Spring, Minnesota in 2024, Becker chose to attend Dunwoody College of Technology specifically because of its reputation and partnership with Toyota. He will graduate from Dunwoody’s T-TEN (Toyota Technician Training & Education Network) program with an A.A.S. degree this spring and is already employed as an automotive service technician.
Becker was a Toyota enthusiast from an early age. He often accompanied his father, who was a service technician at St. Cloud Toyota, and is now the Service and Parts Director at the dealership, to see cars being worked on in the shop and get a view of the latest models on display.
His parents even threw him a Toyota-themed birthday party when he was eight years old, complete with his own service advisor shirt (made by his mom) and Toyota dealership business cards with his name on them.
For his hard work, determination, and willingness to lead in class, Becker was chosen by his instructors to receive an Academic Excellence Award this year.
Criteria for the award includes maintaining a GPA of 3.0 or higher, demonstrating a solid work ethic, extra-curricular participation, collegiate camaraderie, pursuit of excellence, and self-awareness.
“Owen started the Toyota T-TEN program with us almost 2 years ago,” said Todd Tucker, one of the automotive instructors who nominated Becker for the award.
“He was already working as a technician at St. Cloud Toyota, which meant that he had a lot of industry experience and knowledge, especially Toyota knowledge,” Tucker said.
Tucker was impressed with Becker’s willingness to share his shop experience with the class.
“He would happily and enthusiastically step in and fill in any gaps I might have left, without any hint of pride in himself,” Tucker said. “His humility opened up opportunities to mentor the other students in the class and continually helped me create more relevant and realistic experiences in the lab.”
The T-TEN program offers four categories of Toyota Expert level certification and prepares students to test for ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certifications.
“Upon graduation next month, he will have passed all 8 automotive ASE exams, plus advanced level L1 and L3 exams,” Tucker said. “At Toyota, he will only need two more years of experience before being considered a Master Diagnostic Technician, which is the highest level a Toyota technician can attain.”
Hands-on work suits Becker.
“For as long as I can remember, I wanted to understand how everything around me worked. Working with my hands was a necessity,” Becker said.
His favorite class projects were any that allowed him to get under the hood of a vehicle to remove and replace parts.
And when he’s not at work or in school?
“I take my passion for cars — and really anything with an engine — home during my free time and spend time tinkering and working on different projects,” he said.
Becker credits his dad as inspiration.
“He gave me big shoes to fill and is always pushing me to fill them,” Becker said. “I’ve always looked up to him as a role model and hope to reach his level someday.”