During his time at Colorado State University, Zach Stevens has been a full-time manager at Christy Sports, a teacher’s assistant and a father. Balancing all of these acts has been incredibly demanding for Stevens, but he has managed them all successfully to get to where he is today.

Finding time for himself has been something he has struggled with and is excited to finally get to do after graduation.

“Basically, if I’m not at school, in work, I’m at home behind a computer, doing work and in between I’ll take little naps and eat some food,” he said.

Stevens is a fashion designer from Denver, influenced by the natural world, punk rock and rebellious art, but that does not fully capture the image of Stevens’ road to graduation at CSU.

Stevens is a non-traditional student coming back to school, having attained a prior degree at CSU. Since one was not enough, he went back to school for his true passion, apparel design and production. He has come to CSU specifically for this degree, a sort of culmination of interest and accident.

“I just happened to be living here for about three years and didn’t know that CSU had a merchandising and design program,” Stevens said. “A student for the senior capstone fashion show class stopped into my store for a potential donation. I donated and received some tickets for the show, and the rest is history.”

Stevens has already received several accolades at the school, collaborated with OtterBox, and had his work debuted at fashion shows. After graduating from CSU, he plans on moving to Seattle in order to pursue his ambitions of being a designer in athletic wear and even selling his own clothes.