By Lorianne Flint
One of the most anticipated and definitely exciting events of the Student Career Days is the competitions where individuals and teams compete against dozens of other schools in more than 20 competitive events.
Many schools have been preparing for their competitions for several months, some for several years, memorizing the latin and species names of ornamental plants, practicing laying pavers and running through irrigation assembly ideas.
Approximately 46 colleges and universities from across the United States will be competing in 26 different landscape related events such as paver installation, irrigation assembly, wood construction, skid steer operation, landscape plant installation and plant ID.
“It”ll be a lot like a carnival,” said Phil Allen, BYU landscape professor. “Every school has their own banner they”ll be waving and carrying around. There will be a lot of energy and excitement.”
Friday”s competitions, March 24, 2006, are all indoors and are not open to the public because students will be taking tests, doing presentations or identifying plants. Allen said these indoor competitions are very important to the success of a company because of the business aspect of them.
All the Saturday competitions, March 25, 2006, are open to the public and will take place outdoors at Kiwanis Park located at 820 N. 1100 East.
The competitions are also a great way for the students to get recognition by industry professionals. Representatives from different companies in the Green Industry will be judging and watching the students as possible recruits. Students can show off their skills in their competition to impress potential employers.
The competitions the students will be participating in were the main reason the Student Career Days got started almost 30 years ago, and it still has an impact on the recruiting process.
“Winning events makes you a hotter commodity,” Jolley said.
Allen said the landscape plant installation competition acts as the culminating event because it is the last one. Students from every school will gather together to cheer on their teams.
Those interested in the Green Industry and beautifying the earth can also take the opportunity to meet with industry professionals and learn more about what they do.
“I think one of the reasons people might want to go is to talk to professionals about the Green Industry,” he said. “Landscape contracting is much more of a profession than people realize.”
The public is invited to attend these events and Allen said he encourages students and families to come.
“The weather is supposed to be great,” he said. “It”ll be a nice spring day and something people can take their families too.”
