This summer has been ripe with opportunity and growth, and I am immensely grateful for the experience. Working as an intern for OSU Extension has given me the opportunity to serve my community. I find a lot of joy in knowing that I was able to make someone’s day better and I have been able to do that in this position. Others have been able to do this for me as well.
One of my responsibilities this summer was to take point on the organization and implementation of the Linn and Benton County fairs for the Master Gardener Program. I worked closely with volunteers from both Linn and Benton Counties to organize volunteers to work in the Demonstration Gardens and spent many hours talking with them in between engaging with visitors. With the shared goal of providing peer reviewed science-based information and answering visitor questions, we were able to get acquainted through our shared love of plants and service. I could see in the volunteers the same passion and dedication that drives me as well.
Over the course of both county fairs, I was able to listen to the volunteers’ stories and learn why they became Master Gardeners. I really enjoyed hearing about how they were able to apply their specific interests and expertise within gardening – like herbalism, horticultural therapy, greenhouse production, research, and education – to the Demonstration Gardens. I could see how each of their influences touched the gardens and made them better.
I made it my goal to help them however I could in making each county fair successful. The Master Gardener Program is such a beneficial service to the community and it is built on the efforts of the volunteers. One of my biggest take-aways from the OSU Extension Master Gardener Program Internship is that the volunteers’ success is our success. As Extension personnel, it is our job to support them – be the soil they push their roots into so that they may grow.
I hope that I may continue to appreciate the beautiful flowers that the volunteers produce. I wake up each morning excited to go to work and it is a privilege I am very grateful for. Thank you to all of the amazing Extension staff that have welcomed me and taken the time to share their experience with me. I genuinely hope we have the opportunity to work together again in the future.
“Be somebody who makes everybody feel like somebody.” – Brad Montague
– Emily Braibish