When Dylan Mitchell applied for the Environmental Nature Center’s Horticulture Internship, he was standing at a crossroads.
A recent college graduate who had just returned home to Orange County, Dylan knew he loved plants. He had grown up in a family of dedicated gardeners who instilled in him a deep respect for the natural world, and wherever life had taken him — from college dorm rooms to apartment alleyways — he found ways to create gardens.
But passion and profession are not always the same thing.
“I’ve made some realizations about the position I’d like to take in the world,” Dylan wrote in his application. He hoped the internship would help him determine whether horticulture could become more than a hobby and serve as a meaningful career path.
Over the following months, that question began to answer itself.
“I am very grateful for my internship at the Environmental Nature Center,” Dylan reflected. “I was pretty inexperienced coming in, only having been a home gardener and environmental enthusiast looking to pursue horticulture as a serious career path.”
The ENC’s diverse native habitats became an outdoor classroom. As Dylan worked throughout the center, he gained firsthand experience with the plants, soils, and ecological relationships that define Southern California landscapes.
One lesson that particularly stood out involved comparing soils from different areas of the center.
“I loved doing the experiments like the soil test, where we took samples from three different environments and placed them in jars with water to see their soil makeup,” he wrote. “I had known about the different types of soil going in, but I feel more confident now that I could tell which is which just by appearance or touch.”
Like many internships, the experience included plenty of physically demanding work. Weeding, trimming, planting, watering, and maintaining native landscapes may not always be glamorous, but Dylan found value in every task.
“The weeding and trimming was tedious,” he admitted, “but it proved not only that I was more willing to get dirty than I was previously aware, but also was helpful in learning to identify harmful weeds amongst native plants.”
He also gained practical skills that extended beyond the internship itself, including proper pruning techniques and tree care practices.
Much of Dylan’s growth came through mentorship. Working alongside ENC horticulture staff, he was encouraged to think critically about how plants function and adapt to their environments.
“I loved learning about the redwoods,” he wrote. “The information I gained through the internship really boosted my learning in my outside classes.”
One of the internship’s most rewarding experiences came near the end of the program, when Dylan and fellow intern Alexis were given the opportunity to design and install their own native planting project.
The challenge was far from simple. The site sat beneath a mature oak tree and featured a complex mix of heavy clay soils, rocky areas, organic-rich pockets, deep shade, occasional dappled sunlight, and varying moisture conditions.
Rather than seeing obstacles, Dylan saw possibilities.
Drawing on everything they had learned throughout the internship, the pair carefully selected species adapted to the site’s unique conditions, including hummingbird sage, California hedge nettle, Catalina currant, California coffeeberry, Pacific coast iris, yarrow, and fuchsia-flowered gooseberry. Together they developed a planting design that balanced ecological function with visual appeal, creating a garden that will continue to mature and evolve over time.
“My favorite activity during the internship was definitely the project,” Dylan reflected. “I found by that point, nearing the end of the internship, that I had a much more solid understanding of the plants I was choosing and whether they would work for the area or not.”
As someone with an artistic background, he especially enjoyed thinking about how visitors would experience the space.
“I had a lot of fun deciding how to place the plants in a way that will benefit passersby as well as the plants.”
But perhaps the most important outcome wasn’t a garden at all.
“The most valuable thing that I gained by far was confidence that I was headed down the right road with my career and the realization that I was more capable in a science field than I thought.”
For Dylan, the internship transformed uncertainty into direction. Conversations about career paths, hands-on experience working with native plants, and the opportunity to apply scientific concepts in the field helped solidify his future goals. He is currently pursuing horticulture coursework and hopes to continue his education in environmental horticulture and urban forestry.
By the end of the internship, the clearest sign that he had found his path was surprisingly simple.
“I had never been so excited to show up somewhere at 8 AM,” he wrote. “When I had to miss a day, I found it amusing how genuinely upset I was about it.”
At the Environmental Nature Center, internships are designed to provide more than technical skills. They create opportunities for emerging environmental professionals to explore their interests, build confidence, develop practical experience, and discover how they can contribute to a more sustainable future.
For Dylan, that journey began with a love of plants. It left him with something even more valuable: a clearer sense of purpose.