“Give us a scene in The
Adventure of Martha’s Vineyard…” I asked.
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| Eva and Tessa teaming up with Ian to tackle this large Rhododendron in West Field South. It got a little close for a little while, as Tessa disappeared to cut back a grape vine that was sneaking up from the middle. |
It has been three weeks since Eva Colberg and Tessa Youngfinished their 12-week internship at the Polly Hill Arboretum. It was a
tearful, but happy goodbye, as each were off to the next-best-thing in their
lives. One is going back to Rhode Island to start her sophomore year and
Horticulture Club presidency, and the other is off to Madagascar to study
conservation of natural resources, before returning to the College of William
and Mary. Such is the life of a successful college student.
It has taken me three-weeks to get this done only because of
family visiting and personal travel. This last week at PHA was my first week
without Eva and Tessa’s bright, smiling faces around at PHA and the Hoft Farm;
and the absence revealed how powerful, positive their impact was.
As you may remember, these ladies have just started their
professional journeys in horticulture. They are off to terrific starts, if
their final thoughts on their experience are any indication. Reflecting back on
their time at PHA, they had some great memories to share, some silly and some
spontaneously inspiring.
“One of my favorite internship memories,” Eva smiled, “was
that time when Tom was like, ‘Let’s go wander.’ It was magical. That will
forever stick in my mind. I hope that I can make someone as happy as that.”
“Something I’m going to remember forever, for sure, and that
I’m going to tell all of my children someday, or nieces and nephews, or younger
people that I have an influence on later in life,” Tessa rambled on, laughing, “is
definitely the Bobcat lawnmower story of me going up the tree yielding/wielding
the lawnmower. That, for sure, will forever be set.”
The PHA internship was about work and expanding
perspectives, but it was about fun too. Chainsawing and Taylor Dunn-driving
were definitely crowd-pleasers. Eva got excited about pruning, while Tessa
liked tree-climbing. “The whole ride, man. It was great,” Tessa said.
There were so many favorite parts of working at PHA, the
question was daunting for Eva. After an off-the-wall reference to “if this had
been in Nevada….” we got down to it. She was happy to have experienced and been
exposed to horticulture.
“It’s such a magical place. Everyone always stands together
and they can take us to all these cool places…” she said. “I was so happy at the
fact that I learned so much. It’s definitely something that I want to do
again.”
Tessa found the rewarding nature of the job and working with
a team were her favorite parts.
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| Tessa expressing her excitement over a blooming Rhododendron. She did this a lot. |
“I love being able to do jobs and as you’re doing them see
the transformation of the area,” she explained. “Then, when you’re done with it
and you step back, it is this totally new area, and it’s just so beautiful. You
feel great because you did that, with help from your teammates. With their
help, you created this beautiful thing and then almost automatically people who
are visiting the Arboretum…go ‘thank you for doing this…’ They come up to you
and give you a big smile. I think that is the most rewarding thing I’ve ever
encountered or been a part of.”
After completing their internship, Eva and Tessa have different
thoughts about their future careers, though they also know they have more time
to grow and discover what they want to do.
“I really do love the public garden setting,” Tessa shared. “It’s
hard to say where I want to be in a few years because there is so much for me
to be exposed to in the upcoming years, but public gardens definitely hold a
special place in my heart.”
“One thing for sure, is that [the Polly Hill Internship] made
me more certain in that I wanted to stay in horticulture and not change to
something like sustainable ag,” Tessa shared. “It helped define the path of
what I wanted to do and continue doing in my college career.”
Eva concurred, though she was jealous of the classes Tessa
gets to take in her major studies, since William and Mary doesn’t have a
horticulture program. “But at the same time it does give me hope that I can
still do what I want to do,” she said.
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| Tessa hanging out in a tree, as Ian fetched a ladder. |
“I am thinking more about what my major is and there are many
more jobs than I realized,” Eva admitted. “Honestly, my dream job would be to go
on plant expeditions all the time and go plant collecting, which is cool, but
you can do that and get to other cool stuff at the same time if you work in
horticulture.”
Not only were they more confident in how they felt about
their studies, they had a better appreciation of horticulture as a field
because of their internship.
“It has actually made my perspective on horticulture
broader, because one of the great things about the internship was that it
really let you have the opportunity to test the waters in the whole sector of
public horticulture,” Tessa said. “We weren’t just sitting outside weeding
every day, all day; though we did that a lot, which is great, but it’s not that
it’s all we did.”
It was insightful for Eva as well, who wasn’t aware of the
realm of horticulture or how small it really is, but she was really excited
about the options.
“…it is more open than I imagined, like you can start out
doing one thing and then go on to another thing,” she said. “and then your job
can allow you to explore other parts of the field or you can just kind of
shift.”
~
Working was the main purpose of the experience, but living on
Martha’s Vineyard was also a big part. Eva loved the close-knit community on
the island.
“Besides the adventure that is really just right outside
your door, the second you go outside there is something new, just the whole
vibe that the island has, that people on the island have,” Tessa reflected.
“Mostly everyone is pretty relaxed and chill.”
It was challenging for them not to have a car and to have
rely on the buses, however it also allowed for some fun adventures. “Being able
to get to cool nature places by foot or bike was really nice,” Eva reflected,
despite the precarious long and winding road
that is Lamberts Cove. She was regularly running to Lambert’s Cove Beach or Ice
House, or riding her bike to the West Tisbury Farmer’s Market. The Lamberts
Cove bus is known as Tessa’s bus, in honor of her bus adventures.
“Short story version: met a man on the bus, found out that
man played the violin, sang Jesus Christ Superstar on the bus, and then
ran into him again later in town, and ended up just getting in one of his
friend’s cars and going to hear their music rehearsal, and he gave me this
really great book: Johnathan Livingson Seagull, which has changed my
life and will continue to do so as I continue to reread it. That is the biggest
adventure that I think I’ve had on this island.”
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| Eva and Tessa loved the mushrooms at The Folly, a private garden we visited during the Garden Conservancy's Open Garden Days. |
Tessa’s leaving signaled the end of the summer and slowly
the Hoft Farm has emptied. Listening to the interview recording and writing
this blog post has made me laugh and made me cry, but all in good ways. Other
Hoft Farm homies made silly cameos, namely Tessa’s surfer-bro alter-ego and
Dylan, with his opening detailed recount of his day, reminding me of a summer
well-spent. Although the summer season is over, our friendships will remain.
From changes in perspectives to new-found loves, they have embarked on an adventure of a life-time. I wish them both all the best in their travels and their studies, and look forward to hearing about all the cool things they will most certainly do!
Final note from Eva: Be a good intern.
Final note from Tessa: Live every day like you might die tonight. Oh, and: the meal’s not over until you hate yourself.
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| The making of the dessert that inspired Tessa's final thought. |
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