Noëlle Benitez

they/she

Major: Studio Art, Minor: Environmental Horticulture

Nursery Management and Plant Propagation Co-Coordinator 2021-2023, Habitat Horticulture Intern 2020

Being part of the Learning by Leading program has been one of the best opportunities I was fortunate enough to experience at UC Davis. I first heard about this program at the start of my second year when I didn’t really know what I wanted to study or do with my degree. But I knew I was interested in art, plants, and I was itching to get more involved with the Arboretum and Public Garden.

As a Habitat Horticulture intern, I was introduced to this wonderful community of plant lovers by my fantastic mentor, Rachel Davis. Rachel and the co-coordinators at the time taught us about native plants, sustainable design, habitats for pollinators and local animals, and so much more. The Habitat Horticulture internship helped me realize my love for plants and horticulture, making me want to seek out a minor in Environmental Horticulture, and opened up future career opportunities I previously did not even know I would be open to.

I knew that even after the internship ended, I would want to continue participating in the Learning by Leading community. I was then delighted to be offered a job at both the Arboretum Teaching Nursery and at the Arboretum Headquarters as a student employee. It was an exceptional experience to work with nursery manager, Taylor Lewis, and nursery assistant manager, Abbey Hart. I absolutely loved working at both locations and having hands-on experience at both sites. Without the Habitat Horticulture program, I would not have known about any Arboretum job opportunities or even the existence of the Teaching Nursery itself.

After working at the nursery and headquarters for about eight months, Taylor asked me to become a co-coordinator for the Nursery Management and Plant Propagation Learning by Leading internship. I was initially very scared -- it sounded like a lot of work. However, I was reassured to know I would be working alongside Lauren Timmons, a fellow student employee who was an excellent and reliable coworker. I accepted the offer and we got to work, planning for the 2021 Fall quarter.

Taylor, being awesome and inclusive, always likes to allow as many students as possible that are interested in the program to become an intern at any time of the school year. This was super great; however, it meant a lot of extra work, and at one point we managed over 30 interns! Taking on this new leadership role was an extremely rewarding experience as I was able to grow not just my leadership skills but also my plant knowledge; I truly learned by leading. I am extremely grateful -- I could my college experience would be incomplete had I not had this opportunity.

Thanks to this gained leadership experience, my skills were recognized and I was later offered another opportunity to lead a group of five volunteers at the Arboretum Headquarters. For this group, I worked with Abbey, another great mentor. Abbey trained me to lead this group on my own for a couple months. This was definitely another really crazy leadership experience as well, since co-leading a large group of students to independently leading a small group of volunteers was a very different scene. Although it took some getting used to, I truly loved working with the volunteers every week. It is clear that the Learning by Leading program has given me new opportunities and personal qualities and growth that are being recognized by my peers.

It is quite bittersweet to be graduating, having to leave my peers and this wonderful program. Working at the Arboretum Teaching Nursery and with the Learning by Leading program has changed my life for the better. It opened my eyes to how much I love working with plants, plant people, and plants in general. I am excited to see what this program and experience will lead me to in the near future.