\u201cIt\u2019s pretty simple. I just want to do something I love. And so far, I have surprised myself at what I can do.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Michele Stenzel looks at the world through a creative lens, often finding an outlet through crafting, painting, photography, or house projects. If she can put an artistic spin on it, she will.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years she completed coursework at Riverland Community College and St. Catherine\u2019s University in communications and administrative support, and though she found work in those areas, she was not excited about where her career path was taking her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is one reason why she always thought about going back to school to pursue something different \u2014 though, as it turns out, it was something she always knew she wanted to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had been thinking about pursuing a degree in graphic design ever since I graduated high school,\u201d Stenzel said. And a few years ago she took the leap and enrolled at Dunwoody. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere was no time like the present,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With a full-time job, Stenzel had to find a way to balance going to class during the day, while working in the evenings for a global tax and accounting office, and then heading home to complete coursework at night. Though her employer was always supportive and flexible with her class schedule, she made the decision to quit her job so that she could pursue her education full time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a difficult decision to make, but Stenzel was confident that it would be worth it in the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cStay the course even if it sometimes feels daunting, because you\u2019ll eventually come out at the other end,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was that mentality and desire to finish her degree that kept Stenzel motivated throughout her time at Dunwoody. That, and a tremendous support system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy husband has always been my biggest cheerleader, and I\u2019ve relied on him a lot to do most of the household responsibilities when I was staying up late doing homework,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her dedication and hard work certainly did not go unnoticed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMichele brought a limitless sense of curiosity, combined with an implacable work ethic, to the program,\u201d said Pete Rivard, Graphic Design & Production Assistant Professor. \u201cThese characteristics show in the quality and individuality of her work. It was common to find her grinding away hours after class had ended.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have a different focus now,\u201d Stenzel said when asked about how her time at Dunwoody differs from her previous school experiences. \u201cI\u2019ve been really focused on doing well and making the most of my experience at Dunwoody.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a sentiment that can be seen through her participation in the College\u2019s Honor Society, Phi Theta Kappa as well as her participation in extracurricular, interdisciplinary projects like the collaboration between Dunwoody and the Minnesota Department of Health for a display at the Minnesota State Fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Currently Stenzel is completing an internship with Liberty Packaging working in their digital production room and gaining more experience with ArtiosCAD and Kongsberg cutting tables, a particular type of CNC machine she had used at Dunwoody to produce rigid, corrugated packaging designs. She appreciates the opportunity to grow and learn even more through this internship and has enjoyed troubleshooting new and challenging projects, often coming into work asking \u201cwhat do you have for me today?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was a question that one day afforded her the opportunity to work through the process of cutting fabric on the machines to produce face masks for employees in the building to use, as the start of her internship coincided with the Stay at Home order put in place due to COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She plans to use her take-charge attitude to continue to learn new skills and become a more proficient designer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty simple,\u201d she said. \u201cI just want to do something I love. And so far, I have surprised myself at what I can do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty simple. I just want to do something I love. And so far, I have surprised myself at what I can do.\u201d Michele Stenzel looks at the world through a creative lens, often finding an outlet through crafting, painting, photography, or house projects. If she can put an artistic spin on it, she will. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5606,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[363,178],"tags":[361,182],"class_list":["post-5602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-excellence-award","category-student-news","tag-academic-excellence-award","tag-design-graphics-technology"],"yoast_head":"\n
Academic Excellence Winner - Michele Stenzel, Design & Graphics Technology - Dunwoody College News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Academic Excellence Winner - Michele Stenzel, Design & Graphics Technology - Dunwoody College News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cIt\u2019s pretty simple. I just want to do something I love. And so far, I have surprised myself at what I can do.\u201d Michele Stenzel looks at the world through a creative lens, often finding an outlet through crafting, painting, photography, or house projects. If she can put an artistic spin on it, she will. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dunwoody College News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dunwoodycollege\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-30T14:45:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-30T14:45:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Michele-Stenzel-05112020-KMH-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"933\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@dunwoodycollege\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@dunwoodycollege\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Newsroom\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/2020\\\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/2020\\\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/95bb0ca1c8b3a5edc4cac18382a445e2\"},\"headline\":\"Academic Excellence Winner – Michele Stenzel, Design & Graphics Technology\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-30T14:45:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-30T14:45:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/2020\\\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":663,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/2020\\\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/Michele-Stenzel-05112020-KMH-2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Academic Excellence Award\",\"Design & Graphics Technology\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Academic Excellence Award\",\"Student News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/2020\\\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/2020\\\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\\\/\",\"name\":\"Academic Excellence Winner - Michele Stenzel, Design & Graphics Technology - Dunwoody College News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/2020\\\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/2020\\\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/Michele-Stenzel-05112020-KMH-2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-30T14:45:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-30T14:45:56+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/95bb0ca1c8b3a5edc4cac18382a445e2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/2020\\\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/2020\\\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/2020\\\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/Michele-Stenzel-05112020-KMH-2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/06\\\/Michele-Stenzel-05112020-KMH-2.jpg\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":933,\"caption\":\"portrait of Michele Stenzel, Academic Excellence Award Winner\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/2020\\\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Academic Excellence Winner – Michele Stenzel, Design & Graphics Technology\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Dunwoody College News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/95bb0ca1c8b3a5edc4cac18382a445e2\",\"name\":\"Newsroom\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/dunwoody.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/newsroom\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Academic Excellence Winner - Michele Stenzel, Design & Graphics Technology - Dunwoody College News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Academic Excellence Winner - Michele Stenzel, Design & Graphics Technology - Dunwoody College News","og_description":"\u201cIt\u2019s pretty simple. I just want to do something I love. And so far, I have surprised myself at what I can do.\u201d Michele Stenzel looks at the world through a creative lens, often finding an outlet through crafting, painting, photography, or house projects. If she can put an artistic spin on it, she will. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/","og_site_name":"Dunwoody College News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/dunwoodycollege","article_published_time":"2020-06-30T14:45:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-06-30T14:45:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1400,"height":933,"url":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Michele-Stenzel-05112020-KMH-2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Newsroom","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@dunwoodycollege","twitter_site":"@dunwoodycollege","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Newsroom","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/"},"author":{"name":"Newsroom","@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/95bb0ca1c8b3a5edc4cac18382a445e2"},"headline":"Academic Excellence Winner – Michele Stenzel, Design & Graphics Technology","datePublished":"2020-06-30T14:45:55+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-30T14:45:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/"},"wordCount":663,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Michele-Stenzel-05112020-KMH-2.jpg","keywords":["Academic Excellence Award","Design & Graphics Technology"],"articleSection":["Academic Excellence Award","Student News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/","url":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/","name":"Academic Excellence Winner - Michele Stenzel, Design & Graphics Technology - Dunwoody College News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Michele-Stenzel-05112020-KMH-2.jpg","datePublished":"2020-06-30T14:45:55+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-30T14:45:56+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/95bb0ca1c8b3a5edc4cac18382a445e2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Michele-Stenzel-05112020-KMH-2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Michele-Stenzel-05112020-KMH-2.jpg","width":1400,"height":933,"caption":"portrait of Michele Stenzel, Academic Excellence Award Winner"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/academic-excellence-winner-michele-stenzel-design-graphics-technology\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Academic Excellence Winner – Michele Stenzel, Design & Graphics Technology"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/","name":"Dunwoody College News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/95bb0ca1c8b3a5edc4cac18382a445e2","name":"Newsroom","url":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/author\/newsroom\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Michele-Stenzel-05112020-KMH-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5602"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5609,"href":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5602\/revisions\/5609"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Michele](\"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/State-Fair-Water-Display-07162019-kmh-4-1024x689.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Michele](\"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Water-Project-at-State-Fair-08252019-kmh-6-1024x753.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n