I've always told myself, If there is one thing that I will accomplish for my university, It will be a garden on campus. A place where students, faculty, or staff could relax and unwind while breathing in fresh oxygen. As a part of my platform and an initiative under my position on the Royal Court, I took it upon myself to help transform a deserted plot of land in front of our student center into a sitting area with trees, bushes, plants, and more.
I started this project in the summer of 2017. It took forever to persuade the school to let me install this garden. Administration worried we (Royal Court and Students) wouldn't keep up with the maintenance, therefore wasting their money. So, I suggested that the money come from the Royal Court budget and offered them a tentative schedule of when we'd maintain the area. Finally, after a semester and some days I finally had the go on this project.
I wanted to this project to be all-hands-on-deck. I wanted to be able to say "I planted that Japanese Maple!". So, I called on some friends who wanted to take part in this project, scheduled a date with the groundsmen and purchased 15 pairs of gardening gloves from Dollar Tree for all of us.
For my grandma, I had to wear gardening gloves that made me feel like a part of her was with me on such a monumental day. Printed with little red lady bugs, I felt my grandma smiling at me from heaven.
10 o'clock in the morning of February 3, 2018, me and the groundsmen began shoveling and planting.
Not to mention, it was around 36 degrees outside. Honestly, I started to doubt people would be down to help on a cold Saturday.
I was mistaken. One by one, friends started trickling in...even the ones that I did not formally invite.
I learned that when people truly believe in your purpose and what you stand for, you will receive support without even asking. I truly want to thank everyone that came out and helped me construct an everlasting piece of what I stand for on campus. They were real MVPs for being down to get dirty in such cold weather. Lesson to all: Surround yourself with people that will support you even when their toes start to feel numb because of the coldness! (Thank you Christal!)
Finally, after 4 busy hours, we were done and it turned out amazing. Although, we still have some finishing pieces to add, it still looks absolutely beautiful. We managed to transform the feel of the student center by just a little landscaping and planting.
Do you want to see exactly what went down? Be on the lookout for a recap of this event on my YouTube!
