This summer was filled with many different types of experiences for Lorenzo Gonzales-Ysern. Gonzales-Ysern is a second-year student in the Institute of Applied Agriculture (IAA) at the University of Maryland College Park, studying Agricultural Business Management.
His internship was with Ruppert Landscape-DCM(District of Columbia, Maintenance), working long days May through July doing various tasks ranging from maintenance to management. Gonzales-Ysern worked all around the DMV, specifically in Silver Spring, Bethesda, Wheaton, and Georgetown. He came upon this internship through the former IAA Director, Glori Hyman. She recommended this opportunity to Gonzales-Ysern, sharing that her son had a great experience while he was at UMD completing the same internship course.
Gonzales-Ysern worked with maintenance crews, construction crews, enhancement divisions, and office staff during his time at Ruppert. During his stint with maintenance, he completed tasks such as mowing, trimming, and tree work. While at construction, he handled tasks centered around cement work, brickwork, and hardscaping. Office work consisted of proposals, meetings, scheduling, and meeting with customers. During my interview with Gonzales-Ysern, he shared many characteristics he has developed this summer during his time at Ruppert Landscape. Some characteristics he learned were punctuality, accountability, responsibility, and leadership.
One thing that really stuck out to Gonzales-Ysern during his experience was how impactful the language barrier could be in an environment such as the landscape industry. Miscommunication was common, due to the fast-paced and stressful environment that the workplace could be. Being multilingual, Gonzales-Ysern was able to help lead and guide his coworkers during his time at Ruppert to help alleviate the stress that the language barrier might have produced.
Gonzales-Ysern is very grateful for his experience with Ruppert Landscape-DCM this past summer but is also looking forward to expanding his experiences in the future during this next year at Maryland. You can visit ruppertlandscape.com for more information about the company where he interned this past summer.
