{"id":5727,"date":"2020-12-03T12:08:39","date_gmt":"2020-12-03T18:08:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/?p=5727"},"modified":"2020-12-03T15:59:47","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T21:59:47","slug":"second-career-new-beginning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/2020\/second-career-new-beginning\/","title":{"rendered":"Second career, new beginning"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From fashion design to construction, one Dunwoody student is pursuing her dreams<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kia Arendt always wanted to create, to build, and to make\nthings better. Now about to get her degree in Construction Project Management\nfrom Dunwoody, she is close to making that goal a reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been a long journey for the Zumbrota, Minnesota,\nnative and one that has had some twists along the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A first career<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Growing up, Arendt moved around a lot\u2014from Zumbrota to Red\nWing and then Roberts, Wisconsin, for high school, where she attended St. Croix\nCentral. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After high school, Arendt moved to Minneapolis and attended\nthe University of Minnesota for three years before transferring to the Art\nInstitute and earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design in 2016. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first in her family to graduate college, Arendt worked\nas a product designer for three years before a tragedy changed her life and her\ndirection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen my mom died of cancer, I knew it was time for a\nchange,\u201d Arendt said. \u201cSo I took time to ponder the meaning of life. I thought\nabout if I was happy and what I wanted.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So she got a job managing a barber shop in Minneapolis, where\nshe met some great people who persuaded her to go back to school after COVID\nhit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was always interested in building and constructing, but I\ndidn\u2019t think I could do it,\u201d Arendt said. \u201cI was just a silly girl with a\nfashion degree. But in the end, I can\u2019t make excuses for myself. I needed to\ninvest in myself, go back to school and do something I always wanted.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A growing interest<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Arendt\u2019s interest in construction was first apparent when\nshe built tree houses with her siblings growing up. As she got older that\ninterest grew.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGrowing up, we were always very creative kids,\u201d she\nrecalls. \u201cI wanted to create, and build, and make things better. I was very\ninterested in how things work. How you could start with an idea and end with an\nactual built structure.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her career in product design, Arendt got to put those\ninterests and talents to work when her department managed the redesign of a design\nstudio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI got to be in charge of the whole project,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\nwas the most rewarding and fun experience I ever had. It made me really excited\nto get into that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new beginning<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Once she had made up her mind to pursue her passion, Arendt\nstarted researching a handful of schools. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDunwoody had the best reputation and placement rates, along\nwith rave reviews,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is the fourth university or college I\u2019ve\nbeen to, and it has been the best I\u2019ve ever attended. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone has been so helpful. I feel like they truly care\nabout the education I get, and it means more to me than I ever imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But attending Dunwoody would not have been possible without\nthe scholarship support she received from the Schulze Family Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cReceiving the Richard M. Schulze Scholarship is 100 percent the reason I am able to attend Dunwoody right now,\u201d Arendt said. \u201cThe past year, being as crazy as it was, I knew I couldn\u2019t take another big financial hit. So I was really on the fence about investing in myself. Getting this scholarship meant the world to me. Without it I wouldn\u2019t be able to be here, and I\u2019m eternally grateful. It makes me so happy to know there are people out there who are willing to invest in strangers and their futures. I hope to pay it forward someday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A bright future<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Arendt is graduating this May with a Certificate in Construction Project Management<\/a>, allowing her to quickly move into the construction field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy goal is to acquire an internship at a company,\u201d she\nsaid. \u201cI want to start at the bottom so I can learn everything from the ground\nup. I want to know everything there is about the field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That intense sense of curiosity has always been a driving\nforce in Arendt\u2019s life. She even drives around the Twin Cities looking at all\nof the buildings under construction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And during her courses, Arendt not only loves learning new\nthings, but then applying that knowledge in real life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really like being able to break things down and\nunderstand why we are doing something and the way things work,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\nway I know what is coming next. And the faculty have been amazing. They have\nbeen so helpful. Their experience in the field has been so evident. They don\u2019t\njust give you the answer. It\u2019s been so refreshing and so different than what\nI\u2019m used to.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being a woman in a field that is filled with mostly men can\nbe challenging, and Arendt said she has already had people in her circle who\nhave questioned her career choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s reaction was that was a man\u2019s job,\u201d she said.\n\u201cBut I want to make cities too. And in the end they have been supportive\nbecause they knew I wouldn\u2019t be doing it if I wasn\u2019t passionate about it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arendt plans to work in commercial construction because she\nis fascinated with big buildings and the construction process behind them.  She also wants to work at a company where she\ncan grow professionally over time. \u201cI want to be someplace where I can be for\nthe life of my career. I take pride in where I work, that\u2019s really big for me,\u201d\nshe said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also loves the entire process of managing a project from\nstart to finish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSolving problems in one of my all-time favorite things,\u201d\nArendt said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s a lot of what being a construction project manager\nis.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From fashion design to construction, one Dunwoody student is pursuing her dreams Kia Arendt always wanted to create, to build, and to make things better. Now about to get her degree in Construction Project Management from Dunwoody, she is close to making that goal a reality. It has been a long journey for the Zumbrota, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":5729,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[178],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-news"],"yoast_head":"\nSecond career, new beginning - 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\/second-career-new-beginning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Second career, new beginning - Dunwoody College News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From fashion design to construction, one Dunwoody student is pursuing her dreams Kia Arendt always wanted to create, to build, and to make things better. 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