Week 3 Internship

3. You are probably more than half-way through your project. How is it going? What challenges have you faced? What have you learned? What are you doing to ensure a successful completion of your internship project.

I am more than halfway done with my project. Its an ongoing process that will continue until the exhibit is ready to be shown to the public during Easter Sunday. I have been able to complete all the necessary steps to further my project. I have pruned and planted the cuttings from the pentas plant along with getting the plant to the final stages. Throughout this project I have learned all the basic skills of horticulture. I have learned how to prune, divide, and take cuttings from multiple plants and ensure that they will continue to grow after they have been cut back. I have been on task and working on my project everyday for the past couple of days making sure everything is ready for the final stage. Once the plant gets to the final stage it will get moved to a new table. 

5. Who benefits from the work that you do at internship? How and/or why?

The main people who benefit from my work is the Horticulture Department and the public. I am able to help my team leader along with his team members prepare the annual Easter Butterfly exhibit along with the 2014 Tiger exhibit. I am able to help out on the TIger exhibit because I am propagating the “tiger grass” by division. Because I provide a second set of hands I am able to get the process to move along alot more efficiently. My mentor and I are able to split a single plant into as many as 90 single plants and re-pot them for them to go again. If my mentor had to do this himself it would take him a good chunk of his time but by me helping him along we are able to finish alot sooner. On the Easter Butterfly exhibit I am able to prune and take the cuttings of the plant. Since I am able to do this my mentor can proceed to the next step and we can move along more smoothly. I cut the cutting off and hand it to Keith and he takes it and plants it. We were able to fill cut and replant the pentas plant all before lunch. 

8. What are social interactions like in your workplace? Do people spend a lot of time socializing? Are people isolated, doing their own things? Lots of collaboration on work projects? Not much collaboration? How does the social dynamic impact or reflect the organization's work?

The social interaction of my internship is a very friendly one. Everyone knows each other and jokes around. Not only does it take place in the department I work in but all throughout the park. Multiple departments work together on a single project and because of that  many people know each other. For example, today I worked with this lady named Jennifer, wherever we drove people would say hi to us or nod their heads. I asked her at the beginning who are they and what department they worked in but after a few people she said I don’t really know and continued driving. The Safari Park is a very socially active area and everyone ask where the tigers are or where the monkeys are. If you are a new employee to the park you are going to ask the veteran employees to help out. This probably happens but when you are covering a 1,800 acre park you are going to need more help.