Planet SCD

As some of you know, I went to Chicago last week with a big group from my Landscape Management major. We went to participate in the Professional Landcare Network Student Career Days (more familiarly known as Planet SCD). It's basically a convention for college students in the green industry, where they compete against fellow students in their areas of expertise and connect with companies and people in the industry. 

Like last year, I competed in Arboriculture Technical Skills and Woody Ornamental Plant ID. My preparation was not exactly ideal, but I also have a year more experience now plus the added advantage of having studied this before.

Not so pretty Chicago.

Chicago was...kinda ugly. Granted, it's March and there's nothing green there except the river, I still didn't think the city itself was that cool. We ended up driving a lot in the city and surrounding areas, and it just looked small and cramped and dirty, and rather unsafe.

Networking: Me and Roger Phelps from Stihl

The first really exciting part about this trip for me is the networking - meeting the people in the industry. Because I've gone on several trips like this, I know a lot of these people already. It was so fun seeing Roger and Lara and Noel and all the Davey guys again! Since I'm graduating in December, I was talking to them about full time employment in January. Several companies have offices across the country, like Davey, Bartlett, and Valley Crest; while some are in specific areas, like Lambert's (Dallas), High Grove (Atlanta), or Del Conte (San Jose). Tree care and plant health care is a strongly growing portion of the industry, so I'm a "hot commodity" in the market (according to Dr. Allen, my main professor). Essentially, I now just have to decide where to go and what to do. Not so easy.

Getting ready to climb, with Andrew on belay.

My primary competition is Arboriculture, and then Woody plant ID. Arboriculture is a team event with me and Andrew Hollingshead. A competition climb always makes me a bit nervous before I start. This year I climbed right after lunch, and about 25 people from my school were there to watch me. Joyous. When I was just starting my climb everyone was standing down there, staring at me silently, so I stopped for a second and called, "How bout a little cheering?!" It actually helped lessen the pressure. I don't know how to describe the climb other than it went really well. I felt strong and smooth, very confident in what I was doing, and trusted in the ropes a lot. When I was done, the judges - all guys from Davey Tree Co, said I'd done really, really well. So I felt pretty good. I knew that Kevin from Penn State and the BYU-Idaho team had also done really well, and there were a couple of other teams that would be competitive, so I wasn't sure of what the results would be. Andrew and I got 3rd place! I was so excited and happy about this! This is what Kalie and I did last year, and it is definitely respectable. Hooray!

Station 4: I had to take throw the branches in the bucket and toss them into a target circle on the ground.

The woody ID competition was much boringer - I looked at plants. Some of them I knew right away, some of them I figured out by looking at them, and some I had no idea whatsoever. I did better than last year, and it turns out I got 9th place (quite an improvement from last year's 48th place).

The awards ceremony on Sunday morning was exciting. Andrew and I got 3rd place, and amongst our team mates there were two first places, a second place, and quite a few third places. Actually not as many as we were expecting. So when they finally got around to the top 10 schools, it was kind of nerve racking to keep not seeing our name. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4... (oh man, if Kansas state got 4th, and they had a lot more top 3 finishers than we did, are we not even in the top 10?) 3 - BYU Idaho. 2. ...1 = Brigham Young University Provo! It was amazing! We got the big traveling trophy and a big check of $5,000!

Brigham Young University - Provo; 2011 Winning Team!!!

In and around Chicago, my favorite thing was the Garfield Park Conservatory. We spent several hours there on Monday morning, and it was amazing. My favorite was the show room, because it was so full of flower color from azaleas, daisies, camellias, and so many more!

Garfield Park Conservatory Show Room. Flowers!!!

It's really fun being part of this very cohesive group of people that was on this trip with me. I love my major!

PS. The random fun parts:
 - Eating pizza at Piece (Brewery and Pizzeria): a pub in Chicago on St. Patrick's day.
 - Shopping at H&M on Monday, and Filene's Basement, where I got a big pink hat.
 - Getting a $1000 scholarship.
 - Running with Kimber, Phil, Tek, and Amber.