Student Career Day

I was invited to speak at a local landscape/horticulture conference last week as a panelist for the student career section of the conference. How did that happen? Well, I'll tell you!

I applied to teach a class at a local college as an adjunct horticulture professor. The class I signed up to teach did not go because there weren't enough students enrolled. But to keep me involved, this college invited me to be part of the panel they were creating for the conference.

The panel consisted of an owner of a landscape company, the manager of another company, a garden center manager, and me. The idea was the four of us represented different sectors of working in the horticulture industry.

There were about 60 high school and college students who attended the panel discussion. I was really surprised that many students were interested in a career in horticulture! I had a very unique perspective for the room since I was the only person working in the public sector. I was worried I would sound too cynical, but luckily, I made it sound like a total blast... ;)

We each talked about how we got into horticulture, what we have learned about working in our fields, and where we think horticulture is headed. I normally can talk for long amounts of time, but I was fourth in the panel and often had to keep us on track with time. I could tell 75% of the room was bored and didn't really want to listen to us, so I prepared some anecdotes and tried to "work" the room. I know how my professors engaged me in high school and college, so I tried to emulate them.

It worked because I had a few groups of students come up to me and thank me for my information and complimented me on my presentation style. That made me feel so good! Awhile later, a few guys shouted to me "Good job in the student career session!"  as I was walking to the next session to attend. Looks like I may be able to teach if the time comes!

I felt super official when I realized my name was on the program and sign outside of the room we presented in. That's me!

I really enjoyed the experience to connect with local students and discuss horticulture. It was a good reminder about why I am in this field. Hopefully I will be invited back next year!