Latoya Dennis says she attended an open house at Dunwoody College of Technology on a whim. At the time she had recently moved to Minnesota from the DMV area and was volunteering at Theater in the Round doing set design and trying to figure out what was next. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I knew when I moved here that I would be transitioning careers, I just wasn\u2019t sure what that looked like exactly,\u201d she said. \u201cThanks to the help of my partner, I was able to take a moment and really think about what I wanted my next journey to be. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the Open House, Dennis ended up in the Architecture classrooms. She saw the student projects and spoke with faculty member Paul Strother about opportunities in the architecture field and came away from the Open House thinking, \u201cThese are my people. This is where I\u2019m supposed to be. The level of creativity, design, and technical drawings I saw just blew me away. I was highly impressed.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first the plan was to do the two-year degree in Architectural Drafting & Design, but when those two years passed, Dennis decided to keep going into the Bachelor of Architecture degree, and eventually switched over to the first cohort of the online version of the program in her fourth year due to becoming a mom. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What began as a whim has become a five-year journey and a whole new chapter in life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
James Wheeler, Senior Instructor of Architecture, said Dennis exemplifies Dunwoody\u2019s Born To Do mindset and has been \u201ca thoughtful and outstanding student through her associates and bachelor\u2019s degrees.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dennis, who is graduating magna cum laude and is a member of Phi Theta Kappa, will represent her graduating class as the student speaker at Dunwoody College\u2019s 2024 Commencement, which takes place May 21, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While her graduation marks a new phase in Dennis\u2019s career, it\u2019s not her first one. After graduating with a B.F.A. in drawing and design from Old Dominion University, she worked as a graphic designer for a while before transitioning into elementary education, at first as a resident artist at different schools, and then later as an educator in Fairfax County Public Schools, including working with the students on stage productions and music videos. She loved being a resource for families and helping her students grow, which she held for more than a decade. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was able to create my own curriculum and focus on projects the kids wanted to participate in,\u201d she said. \u201cTo see a shy kid get on stage and perform in front of everyone or to watch a kid with autism use music to communicate is a joy to see and be a part of.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What drew Dennis to architecture was that it brought together many things she was interested in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cArt, science, set design, transporting people through spaces \u2014 I am passionate about all those things, but I was searching for a way to combine them in a way that made sense.” Architecture, then, was a natural evolution of Dennis\u2019s interests, talents, and work experience. Entering the field as a BIPOC woman, she also began noticing the importance of representation and the impact it can have.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She cited one of her instructors \u2014 Anjali Ganapathy \u2014 as being a help and inspiration for how to navigate the industry, which remains predominantly white. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShe not only believed in my abilities to design, but she also believed in me as a person and saw the value I could bring to the profession. Having that kind of support and encouragement, gave me the fuel I needed to push through such a rigorous program,” she said. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n