Isaac Introduces Himself….

So I guess I should get on it and go ahead and do this blog post. Let’s start off with an introduction. Hi, I’m Isaac Kirwan and I’m the first intern for the crinum lilies. I’m 19, live in Greenville, and I go to Spartanburg Community College for Horticulture.

Now most people I talk to get really confused as to why I didn’t just go to Greenville Tech since it is closer, for which I have a great story full of plot twists and bloodshed. Ok not really, but it is a story full of frustration and tough decisions. I have always been interested in cities. How they are built up, the history, the atmosphere, everything. After some research, I decided to go to school for City Planning. After some more research, I found out that you can’t get a bachelor’s degree in city planning. So I had to rethink my future plans and came across Landscape Architecture, and Clemson offered it as a bachelor’s major, after which I could go right into their master’s program in city planning. I applied and got in and all that good stuff, and I had everything ready.

All I had to do was pay my first deposit and go to new student orientation. That’s where we ran into problems. I was a good enough student to receive the life scholarship in high school, however that’s all the money I could receive with Clemson’s high standards where you have to be in the top 10% of your class to really get a cent from them and Eastside High School was very competitive. I did some calculations at National Debt Relief and I would be nearly $120000 in debt after I graduated and with job outlooks not looking particularly amazing, I talked to my mom about it and had to make the hard decision to withdraw from Clemson and was either going to work for a year to save up and try again next year, or go to Greenville Tech and transfer. Of course, Greenville tech doesn’t have anything in my field to take, so I went on the search to find a cheap school where I could take more than general education classes.

I finally found the horticulture program at SCC and applied before the deadline ended. I couldn’t be more surprised by my decision. The work I’ve heard is pretty much Clemson’s four year program and more squeezed into two years and I believe it, and I love it.After I finish my two years, I’m still planning on majoring in LARCH at Clemson, and I know I’ll be more than ready for it.

This internship, along with horticulture, will help me learn sustainability and to pay attention to detail. On the farm, it’s pretty much all organic, and through the summer, I’ll get to learn how to take care of a local farm, and a small business. These two elements are very important in today’s world and cities. Green roofs in cities (pretty much anywhere really) can be used for this to provide produce, income, and a learning experience. Finally, let me give a shoutout to Kevin Parris. After I talked to Jenks at the symposium, I went to Mr. Parris and talked to him about it and he talked nothing but great things about him and was really excited about the possible internship, which influenced me to follow through with it. Thank you Jenks and Kevin for this amazing opportunity!