Reviewed by: Michael Seale
How this Auburn student landed her dream landscaping internship in Birmingham
Reading time: 5 minutes
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This Auburn student has accomplished what every college student dreams of: She’s found a way to turn her passion into a meaningful career with growth opportunities.
Read on to find out how Hannah Chancellor’s love for the outdoors led to an incredible internship opportunity in Birmingham, plus learn about a few of her travel experiences along the way.
Meet Hannah
Born and raised in Memphis, Hannah hails from a family of Mississippi State graduates (see what we did there?), but she decided to choose a different path.
As she made her list of colleges to visit, she continued to inch Auburn toward the top. Her tour of the campus is what sealed the deal.
“We are a huge Mississippi State family, and I always thought I would go there. But then, I started looking around and decided to tour Auburn. There was something so different about the community—everyone went out of their way to make sure my experience was great.
I wanted to be a part of that community and help other people have the amazing experience I had. In the process, [laughs] I’ve disappointed so many people in my family.”
Hannah Chancellor
Hannah is now entering her senior year in Auburn’s College of Agriculture. She’s majoring in horticulture with a concentration in pre-landscape architecture, and she’s already gaining credits toward her master’s in landscape architecture.
But to understand where her love for horticulture took root, we have to dig deeper into Hannah’s story.
Falling in love with horticulture
While most middle schoolers were finding the next meme to post, seventh-grade Hannah was getting a jumpstart on her career. She started interning with a wedding planner and worked with her all the way through high school.
After graduating from high school, Hannah set her sights on building out her event planning skills and started coursework in event management at Auburn.
But Hannah felt like something was missing. She began to think about her love for the outdoors and the successful business folks in her life—her uncle with a landscaping company and her dad, who built a career in construction.
“Landscape architecture first came up during a conversation with my mom. But my immediate reaction was, ‘I’m going to be sitting at a desk all day. I can’t do that. I have to move around. I want to be outside, have connections with nature and people and create community.’
At the time, the word horticulture was not even in my dictionary, but I started looking into it and in a spur of the moment made a decision to make a change. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Hannah Chancellor
Landing an impressive internship in Birmingham + studying abroad
Hannah’s Auburn experience so far has been anything but boring, largely due to two reasons: studying abroad and an awesome internship experience.
Through Auburn’s study abroad programs, Hannah has had the opportunity to visit Ireland and Brazil and study horticulture practices in those countries. Her biggest takeaway? She loved learning about the different climates and growing regulations and how they influence the local landscapes.
Additionally, Hannah has traveled within the U.S. to conferences and networking trips in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah.
Even in the midst of all of her impressive travels, Hannah views her internship experience in Birmingham as the highlight of her college career.
Hannah first found out about Blackjack Horticulture after a representative visited one of her horticulture classes at Auburn to share more about the company.
A few months later, she was selected to work as a landscape design intern and quickly became enamored with the company and meaningful work.
During her internship, she assisted a landscape designer and learned how to work with design software, take measurements and meet with clients. She also got to work with the head of estimation and got to add cost analysis skills to her tool belt.
“I learned so much in such a short time at Blackjack. Everyone wanted to pour into me and teach me. It was such an amazing community. I would love to go back to Blackjack after I finish my master’s degree.”
Hannah Chancellor
You can launch a meaningful career with Auburn’s College of Agriculture
If you’re looking for a career that’s hands-on, meaningful and stimulating, here are a few reasons why you should consider studying horticulture in Auburn’s College of Agriculture:
- Horticulture majors can pick from four concentrations:
- Fruit and vegetable production
- Landscape horticulture
- Nursery and greenhouse science
- Pre-landscape architecture
- Auburn horticulture students have the opportunity to study abroad in:
- The United Kingdom
- Spain
- Germany
- Italy
- The Netherlands
- France
- Costa Rica
- The Department of Horticulture is known for its high rate of employment for graduates.
Learn more about studying horticulture in Auburn’s College of Agriculture.
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