Mason Hardel is thankful to receive an Academic Excellence Award, to be recognized for his hard work, and for the experience he had with his peers in the architecture program at Dunwoody College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having transferred from the University of Minnesota Duluth after one semester studying Mechanical Engineering, Hardel had a hard time deciding what he wanted to do. \u201cI tried Mechanical Engineering, but the creative aspect wasn\u2019t for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deep down inside, Hardel knew who he was from a very young age. <\/ins><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWay back in the second or third grade, I wrote a paper about wanting to be an architect when I grew up,\u201d he recalled. Hardel had always seen himself as a hands-on person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI find [hands-on learning] to be the best way for me to learn, and I also enjoy making physical objects with my hands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hardel graduated with his Bachelor of Architecture degree this past May. He also earned his Associate of Applied Science degree in Architectural Drafting & Design from Dunwoody in 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n During his coursework, his favorite project was making a rowing boathouse. The project pushed students to come up with creative and innovative design solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He credits his wife for being his greatest inspiration. \u201cShe has been by my side every step of the way and has always pushed me to be my greatest self.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n “As a student, Mason made the time to help other students navigate their licensure exam prep and he has already passed three of the six required exams,” said Andrew Blaisdell, School of Design Associate Professor. “It’s been personally inspiring to watch him step into leadership roles.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hardel worked as an intern for TKDA, an engineering, architecture, and planning firm before starting as a Graduate Architect in May 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To Hardel, Dunwoody represents the future of technical education and preparing students for their careers. \u201cI applied here [at Dunwoody], started, and I\u2019ve never looked back since,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mason Hardel is thankful to receive an Academic Excellence Award, to be recognized for his hard work, and for the experience he had with his peers in the architecture program at Dunwoody College. Having transferred from the University of Minnesota Duluth after one semester studying Mechanical Engineering, Hardel had a hard time deciding what he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7702,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[363],"tags":[223,329],"class_list":["post-7701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-excellence-award","tag-architecture","tag-technical-education"],"yoast_head":"\n