Albuquerque Intern Builds Communication Skills and Confidence!

The following guest post was written by Elliot, about his internship experience with us this summer.

After finishing my freshman year studying Construction Management at Northern Arizona University, I wasn’t sure if this internship would be the right fit for me. Despite my reservations, I interviewed with the Yellowstone Landscape team and got the job.

I started the internship working alongside different crews getting hands-on field experience installing irrigation, plants, and gravel. This is tough work, but I am glad I had the opportunity to do it because I learned how the landscape construction division works. I also got to know the field employees better and understand how they see the company. All of this was very helpful for the second half of my internship where my Mentor, Buddy Gallegos, taught me what it’s like to be a Project Manager.

During my time working as a Project Manager, I faced a different challenge every day. Whether it was dealing with a superintendent at a job site or finding a solution to a problem one of the crews encountered. One of my most rewarding experiences during this internship involved using my communication skills to move a project forward. We needed to start a project and the Superintendent was pressing us to get our crews on site. We were being held up by the grading company who still had work to finish. By working with both the grading company and the project superintendent I was able to coordinate a timeline and got things moving.

I came into this internship lacking confidence and not completely sure what I wanted to do with my major. Now, through this internship, I have gained confidence in myself and what I can do, as well as a better understanding of what I want to do after graduation!