The biggest challenge for me would have to be being confident in my decisions, or having faith in the information I know. Whenever a customer asks me a question I always find myself second guessing my answer, and I usually find my manager so he can give them a definite answer. A challenge that occurred at my work site happened due to a misunderstanding. A customer in for a landscaping project was picking out many of our plants, but forgot to flag them as the let other customers know that those plants were no longer for sale. Another customer picked up one of her plants, and he attempted to purchase them. The woman working on her landscaping project got very upset claiming that we were trying to give away her plants, and started demanding for a discount on her entire purchase for the mistake. My manager quickly figured out the issue, and settled it with everyone happy in the end.
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Joshua: Josh's internship is something that was unexpected when I heard it, but it seems that he is enjoying himself nonetheless. What interested me the most was how he has learned about the common workplace now, and seeing the respect he has gained for it. Something we have in common is that our work may seem insignificant at first, but we both see that any work we do for our company benefits them. Something we have that is different is our working locations. Of course that is to be expected with an opera house, and a nursery. His work seems a little more reserved than mine is. I'm not complaining about that though, because I really enjoy my work environment. Udeema: Udeema's seems really happy at her workplace, and I'm really happy for her. What interested me the most was all the different types of bugs she gets to work with. It's really interesting, and I can't wait to hear more about it once we get back to school. Our internships are similar by the way we both deal with living creatures (well once living for her). Besides dealing with plants, I also deal with little creatures I come across every now and then. Like spiders hiding in the leaves of the plants that like to give me nice little surprises, or snails that I find (usually eating our plants). Something different is probably the settings of our internships. Udeema works indoors inside of a lab while I work outside under a tent. Cade: Cade's internship by far sounds like the cutest one. She seems to be growing more comfortable at her internship which is very nice to see. Something that interested me is Cade's project. I think it's really cool that she gets to set up a fundraiser for the rabbit society, and it's something that is really benefiting her internship. Something similar about our internship is that we both get to work outside a lot. Something different would be the types of creatures we deal with. Cade works with rabbits while I work with plants. Plants don't really move, or do much, so that is a major different in the living things we are caring for. A picture of some succulents from our new shipment we got today.
I see myself learning more about plants. I am starting to remember more names, and what specific actions are needed to care for them. I'm also growing more confident every time I talk to a customer. I am more sure of myself, and I'm able to give them more reliable information. My internship is truly going to help me with any further jobs I have. Whether it is in a nursery or not.
My work place is very open, and isn't a place where talking is prohibited. Our co-workers can talk any time, and choose to do so at times. Whether it be talking about work, or just casual conversations. While a lot of the work done here is in small groups some of the work is done alone. Everyone has their own little projects they do themselves, and those are the times where the nursery is a lot quieter. Most of the time though, our business is very talkative. Since we get to talk a lot, and get to know each other, we all work together quite well. It strengthens the company's work ethic, and helps us complete our job to the best ability. This is a cactus I found at the nursery that looked like it had hair on the top of it's head. So I took a picture, and drew a face on it. For my project my mentor and I were talking about either having me make a book that has names, pictures, and growing conditions of plants, or I could make a digital version on his website. The people that would benefit from my project are my boss who would have a website easier for his customers, and landscapers who need this information on the website. It also brings more people to his nursery, because they will know that they have the certain plants instead of not knowing, and going to another nursery that they know have the plants for sure. It would help newer employees, or employees that have a hard time remembering the names of plants, because they have easy access to a list. It would benefit the customers by making their shopping experience easier, and it will take up less of their time. It will help me by giving me a chance to learn the name of the plants, and helps me learn how to better care for them. It will also stregthen my website creating skills.
Although at times I might feel like I'm not doing much I am benefiting quite a few people. I am benefiting my co-workers who can get work done faster, and more time for other projects, now that they have someone to help them. I am benefiting my boss who is getting more work done, and running a more efficient business. People who love plants, and want to learn more about them are benefiting from a more organized company that is willing to help them, and teach them at anytime.
The employee that I chose to to interview for my blog post was Curtis. He is someone who's company I've come to appreciate at my internship. He graduated high school, and then pursued a career in construction. After realizing that he had no heart in that career path, he found Exotic Gardens. He says that was the best choice he ever made, and that this is still the best job he's ever had. He is now the proud manager of Exotic Gardens, and continues to love his job every day.
I think one of the things that surprised me the most about my internship is how much work there is to do at a nursery. I orignally thought there wouldn't be much to do, but I soon learned just how busy working at the nursery could be. There is always work that needs to be done. Like re-potting plants, weeding, or unloading new plants. I did not think that I would always have work to do, and thought I would be sitting around a lot. Although I was orignally mistaken I now see that being busy is better than having nothing to do at all. A picture of some plants I re-potted.
The company I'm interning at doesn't really have a mission statement, but if it did I think it would be to sell people plants suited for them. What I mean by that is to sell plants that will thrive in the conditions where people live instead of trying to sell any plants they can. They really care asbout the customers, and want the best for them. Even if it means they don't sell as many plants as they could of. A picture of part of the nusery above.
My mentor's name is Carl Dykema. He spends a lot of his time working, even callking himself a workaholic. His collection of succulents/cactus started out as a hobby. He started his business when he had more plants then he knew what to do with. He has had to move his store three times now, so he is spending a lot of his time on getting it set back up again.
Carl didn't graduate from college, but that didn't stop his business. He prides himself on being an honest business man. Instead of selling whatever plants he can to whoever he asks where they live, and gives thm options that would work better in their enviroment. He grows many of the plants he sells himself, and he has lots of knowledge about them. I believe that working with him will only further help me, and my love of plants. |
Aubrey ScottA lover of plants Archives
February 2017
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