![\"Yekong](\"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/72-SOD_Yekong_Thao_Academic-Excellence-winner-04122022-kmh-2-1024x658.jpg\")
An artist at heart, Thao\u2019s counselor encouraged him to consider taking a Graphics Communications elective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI always wanted to become an artist, and she told me that graphic design was at least somewhat related to art,\u201d Thao said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe told me to give the class a chance \u2014 which I did \u2014 and that class changed my life forever. What started as a regular class that I didn’t care about at the time turned into something that I was passionate about doing. The whole design process of starting with a blank canvas, creating your design, and seeing your design come to life drew me in a lot. For me, there weren’t the same limitations to what you could create in the graphic design world that there seemed to be in the art world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"portrait](\"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/72-Yekong-Thao-Academic-Excellence-04182022-1-1024x683.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAfter Thao\u2019s family decided to move to Minnesota from Wisconsin in 2019, the soon-to-be-graduate again sought the advice of his guidance counselor: this time to help him find a college in Minneapolis that offered a graphic design program so he could continue to develop his newfound passion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After researching the options available to him, it was the two-year associate\u2019s program at Dunwoody that really stood out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI chose Dunwoody because of its hands-on approach to education. I didn\u2019t want to spend all of my time learning how to do something virtually, when I had the option to learn by actually doing<\/em> it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After enrolling in the spring of 2020 to complete some of his general education credits, he dove head first into program-specific courses in the fall and quickly made an impact. Fast forward to this spring, and the Graphic Design & Production program selected Thao as this year\u2019s recipient of the Academic Excellence Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe is an outstanding student with high standards and commitment to the program,\u201d said Graphic Design & Production Assistant Professor Pete Rivard. \u201cYengkong is the first one in the building each morning and the first to volunteer for any additional activities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thao credits Dunwoody for pushing him to step outside of his comfort zone, and his instructors applaud him for stepping up to embrace opportunities for growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rivard highlights how Thao took on a leadership role at the CAD (Computer Aided Design) table during his second year in the program \u2014 assisting with general maintenance of the machine, training first year students who were just learning how to use the equipment, and, above all, being willing to help when someone needed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thao found his stride at the CAD table during his first-year packaging design course, a highlight of his time at Dunwoody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis was my first opportunity to work with a client and experience how the \u2018real world\u2019 of design works, going back and forth with them about what they envisioned for their project,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was this class and this project that led me to discover what I want to do when I graduate Dunwoody, which is to become either a packaging or structural designer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this isn\u2019t the first time a class made such a large impact on Thao. When he looks back to the Graphic Communications class in high school that he almost didn\u2019t<\/em> sign up for \u2014 he is grateful that he ended up taking a chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thao is using these last few weeks before graduation to further hone his skills in the classroom, at the CAD table, and at his internship at Imagine! Print Solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Graphic Design & Production Yengkong Thao\u2019s interest in graphic design was sparked by chance. After a meeting with his guidance counselor at Wausau East High School in Wisconsin, Thao found out he had a gap in his class schedule that needed to be filled. An artist at heart, Thao\u2019s counselor encouraged him to consider taking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[363,178],"tags":[361,314,94,416],"class_list":["post-6363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-excellence-award","category-student-news","tag-academic-excellence-award","tag-dunwoody-college-of-technology","tag-graphic-design-production","tag-school-of-design"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/72-SOD_STRUCTURAL-DESIGN_FURNITURE-10132021-kmh-11-1024x712.png\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/72-SOD_Portfolio-Review-05122022-kmh-4-1-1024x683.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Yengkong](\"https:\/\/dunwoody.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/72-SOD_Structural-Design-project-11092021-kmh-5-1024x579.jpg\")