Rathsack stands with 2 of the Montgomery county park loads.
Mark Rathsack is not a typical college student who spends his summer chilling, watching Netflix, or relaxing. Instead, he spent his summer cutting and pruning trees, and injecting chemicals into ash trees to protect them from emerald ash borers. His passion for the outdoors, environmental management, and agriculture led him to his major, Landscape Management at the University of Maryland’s Institute of Applied Agriculture.
Over the summer Rathsack interned for Montgomery County Parks where he cut up fallen trees, pruned trees, and made park benches. Working with an arborist, Rathsack learned to spot hazardous trees that needed to be pruned or cut down. Rathsack’s favorite part of his internship occurred when the maintenance crew cut logs into different lengths and painted them according to the seasons. For example, orange pumpkins for Halloween and white snowflakes for winter.
Rathsack acknowledges the rewarding aspects of his work. After he and the crew removed a potentially dangerous tree, he said, “A family watched us take it down and then thanked us for removing it because it was their favorite playground.”
Rathsack became so good at his job that he was offered three jobs within different departments of the company by the end of his internship.
During his internship, Rathsck learned to drive a 963 tractor and loader, learned to use a saw mill, and spent time improving his climbing skills. When asked if this internship had changed or affected his career goals, he said it made him realize the diverse amount of jobs available within his field and he added, “It changed my mind because it paid for my commercial driver’s license and anything work related. There are many benefits, like paid days off. There were so many jobs available within the company.”
Rathsack is back on campus for his second year. He will be finishing his certificate in Landscape Management. His future plans are to continue working for Montgomery County Parks once he graduates and running his own business, Clear Creek Landscape Company which he started when he was 8 years old.
