Each year, Striv offers a scholarship to a student who exemplifies what it means to go above and beyond in the classroom, as well as media, and this year’s winners are between Dillion Muirhead of Valentine High School, and Mackenzie Unruh of Hesston High School.

Our first winner, Dillion will be attending the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the fall, majoring in Emerging Media Arts. 

In high school, Dillion was very involved in his Striv Club. Over the years he has learned a variety of roles including producer, camera operator, graphic designer, social media manager, and video producer. 

But before Striv, Dillion was motivated to learn how to create on his own. In the 6th grade he started playing around with a camera, making trick shot videos and watching a lot of Youtube Tutorials, and from there found a passion for filmmaking. From there he was able to market himself as a social media manager, working odd jobs with local and national businesses helping them with digital marketing. 

This fall he hopes to continue to sharpen his skills in filmmaking. His goal is to become a short film director, and to one day create a documentary for production companies like Netflix or Hulu. We look forward to seeing what he can do!  

Our second winner is Mackenzie Unruh. She will be attending McPherson College in the fall, pursuing a graphic design degree. 

Mackenzie Unruh loves everything art, and has known for a while that she wants to pursue a future career in graphic design. It all started when she took her first design class her junior year, and then discovered that digital art allowed her to do more things and she could see the potential for a career. 

Striv came to Hesston fall of 2019, creating an opportunity for Mackenzie to join a digital media class and dabble with commentating, producing, operating a camera, social media, video production and graphic design. Mackenzie began creating more content for a larger audience while learning communication and leadership skills while being a part of the streaming crew. One of her favorite things to do is create the basketball graphics and weekly “What’s Up Wednesday” videos for their social media.

Mackenzie is looking forward to taking graphic design classes at McPherson college and finding a more focused avenue in art once she gets there. The door is wide open for her! 

We are proud of both recipients, and wish them the best of luck!