Once upon a time, I didn’t even know the difference between a landscape designer and a landscape architect. Oh, how naïve I was. And while I’m still by no means a Master Gardener (which is a real title, by the way), I have come pretty far in my gardening knowledge over the past few months.
You see, this year, I’ve been granted the stellar opportunity through Drake to work as an apprentice with the Meredith Corporation Garden Group. And although being an “apprentice” sounds like I’m working for a blacksmith or Donald Trump, what it really means is that while still attending Drake University, I get a chance to work part-time, learn about the world of magazines, and contribute to various gardening publications.
Me at my composting photo shoot, alongside Garden Group art director, Nick Crow. See, I even have gardening gloves and shovel!
Although I just started in September, I’ve already had some amazing experiences here. Not only do I get to work with a really great, fun, and kind group of people, but I also get to have a few adventures along the way. In fact, one perk of the job is that I even got to chat it up with a celebrity earlier this year. His name is Bill Christopher and he played Father Mulcahy on MASH. Now Bill and his wife Barbara have a home in Pasadena with an incredible corner lot garden. I got to speak with Bill and Barbara about their garden and write a story about it for the upcoming issue of Gardens Ideas magazine. It was a pretty great experience, and I only got a little bit star struck.
In another pretty crazy twist of events, this apprenticeship also marks my modeling debut. Garden Ideas includes a story about how to build your own backyard compost bin…and guess who stood in as the model? It turns out that showing off a homemade compost bin on a frosty Des Moines morning was not the kind of glamorous Spanish Rivera photo shoots Tyra Banks gets to do, but it was still an absolute blast.
But it’s not all glamorous celebrity chats and photo shoots around the office. I’m picking up some real knowledge about writing, editing, shooting, and producing magazines. Honestly, I’m glad it’s gone so well so far because Drake’s relationship with Meredith was one of the reasons I decided to attend school here. Whereas other students clamor to find big magazine jobs, I live 5 minutes away from one of the largest magazine companies in the nation and get to spend 3 days a week there learning, growing, and hopefully contributing to the industry I’m studying. So, thanks, Drake, I guess is what I’m trying to say.
Abbey @ Drake 