Part 1: Interview
The mentor that I interviewed is Gabe Lizarraga, a gardener at the SDB Garden: Why did you choose to work here? Gabe chose to work at the SDBG because it was a great opportunity to grow knowledge of all plants. It provided him a much more concrete experience in caring for and handling plants of all shapes and sizes. What skills and training are necessary for your position? The good thing is that there is no real prerequisite of knowledge needed, most of the information that you need is learned on the job. The goal of the SDBG is to educate and prepare those who are passionate about horticulture. Gabe personally had prior background with organic farming, nurseries, and other gardening jobs here and there. Do you plan to stay with the botanic gardens for the rest of your career? Gabe says that "it is hard to tell what the future will hold but there is always potential for growth. The SDBG has certainly been a fantastic beginning to my career. In today's climate is is great to have the knowledge of growing instead of cutting down. It is an opportune time to get into this field because it is not too concrete and restricting, there is wiggle room to explore what you want to do." How do you feel about the mission of this organization? To Gabe, the botanic garden's plans to expand the mission for restoration is very encouraging. It is great to have this organization that helps and spreads awareness to the community as well. The work that the garden does also gives more of a greater purpose to this work; it is not just about beautifying a garden. What other advice do you have about working here? If anything, always be in that beginners mindset, because there is always more to learn. It's great because you get hands-on experience mixed with academic pursuit. Make sure to not be afraid of hard and/or tedious work; it definitely does pay off. Part 2: Journal I have learned so much in this internship and I've barely completed a week of it. I find myself even more passionate than ever to learn about different horticultural and botanical topics. I have familiarized myself with the scientific names of the plants that I work with as well as several key features that I can use to identify them in the field. What I have learned can also help me with my own future gardening endevours and attempts to create a native garden. The knowledge that I have is relatively simple information but it is exactly what I need to know to be useful. I have felt automatically comfortable with the work that I do because I have had such a welcoming and patient staff to teach me.
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February 2020
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