Dennis Zekic

Where and when did you intern and what were your responsibilities?

I did the summer sprout internship at the OSU Extension office in Shaker Heights, Ohio. My responsibilities were to conduct site visit surveys at 82 different community gardens on the east side of Cleveland. The site visit survey was a 14-question checklist pertaining to how the community garden was being maintained that summer. At the end of each survey, I took a photo of the garden, and the garden leader had the option of being in the photo. Any time that I wasn't conducting site surveys, I was in the office scheduling visits or inputting previous site visits into my summer sprout Google drive via scanner, and uploading photos into the drive.

What was the best part about your internship?

The best part of my internship was learning various gardening terms, techniques and how a real world office operates. I used to garden with my grandmother when I was little and this took me back to when I was a kid. I also have become more content with office work.

How did your internship connect to your major and/or your planned career?

As an environmental science major, I've always had a dream to construct and operate my own greenhouse, and the knowledge gained from this internship has helped my dream come into realization. Also, I spent half my time outside working with community gardens, and the other half of my time in the office completing work. This relates to how most of my environmental science classes are run.

What advice would you give to current students considering an internship?

I would advise current students to sit down and consider what they would love to do with their major, and to find an internship that can help gain insight for what they would love to do. Work hard and follow your dreams, no matter where they could take you. Take chances, but enjoy what you do.