The following guest post was written by Nick, about his internship experience with us this summer.
Being a Penn State University student and working in the green industry for several years, Yellowstone Landscape sounded like a good fit and something new for me to experience. While in Charleston this summer I have had the opportunity to learn a lot of new areas of the business. Some include irrigation, bidding, and interviewing. My mentor Cory Hendrix wanted me to see all that Yellowstone has to offer.
Irrigation is something new to me as I had very little experience before coming to Yellowstone. I spent multiple days with both the irrigation install crew and the irrigation techs. Seeing how these systems must be planned and laid out early in the build process was something I didn’t think about before now. I learned a lot from Ryan, an irrigation tech and being able to ask questions about different systems and how each worked was both fun and informative.
Landscape Construction is my major, but I am minoring in Arboriculture, so I also looked forward to working with the tree care team. Coming from Pennsylvania I had to learn a new set of trees used in the landscape. While spending time with George the tree care BDM I learned what to look for and how difficult the job will be based on space and other obstacles that may be in the way.
But my biggest take away from this entire experience was sitting in on an interview with a potential employee and being able to observe their body language and responses. It made me realize what I personally do well and not so well when I am in their shoes. This summer has been a great learning and growth experience and I am grateful to Yellowstone Landscape and the Charleston team!