Albuquerque Intern Learns the Importance of Collaboration and Team!

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

Although this is my second internship with Yellowstone Landscape, I am continuing to learn more and more about the skills necessary for sustaining a successful and profitable landscape business. This fall I will be a senior at the University of New Mexico where I am majoring in Environmental Planning and Design, with a concentration in Landscape Architecture. After meeting several Yellowstone Recruiters at a career fair, I decided the opportunity to work in the field of landscape, would be a great opportunity for networking and to gain experience in the industry.

This internship has been very educational. I have gained experience and knowledge in account management, landscape design, irrigation, and landscape maintenance. From these experiences I know it’s important to learn all aspects of the job, and to be able to see things from your co-worker’s perspective. The ability to work effectively as part of a team and to collaborate and understand everyone’s role is vital. For example, when there are challenges with a project, empathy allows you to better understand the problem and demonstrate to your co-workers that they are seen and heard.

All my experiences during this internship have been impactful, but the ones that stand out the most are the times I was learning the basic tenets of how to create and sustain a beautiful landscape. From the time Carlos and Chris taught me how to mow and fertilize sod, or Tanya taught me how to drive through properties and look for exposed irrigation lines, shrubs or trees that need trimming, or installing some missing plants, I have built my knowledge base. Working with the designers I learned how to choose the right plant material for a specific location and create aesthetic presentations that are functional.

The Yellowstone Landscape team here at the Albuquerque branch have been an amazing team to work alongside. I have learned more about landscaping during my two summers here than I have through most of college. Like I always say, the best teacher is experience. This internship has been an amazing opportunity for me, and I look forward to coming back next year to further develop my professional design skills and eventually join the team as a designer!