Aug 4th, 2022

Summer Student Spotlight: Meet Liam and Serena

We sat down with two landscape maintenance students in August – Liam and Serena.

The landscape maintenance role is a great way to enjoy the outdoors and get a chance to make a difference in our communities.

Liam is in his second year of university at Carleton, studying social work, and Serena – also a Carleton student – is in the fourth year of an environmental engineering degree.

It’s Liam’s second summer working with OCH. He said he liked the idea of working outside.

“I also liked the idea of having an opportunity to lend a hand to people who need it by cleaning up garbage or making the communities look nicer,” he said, adding his friends are jealous of all the time he spends outside.

Serena, who is working with us for her first year, said she heard from friends that it was a great way to spend the summer.

“The job is also related to my degree and a great way to see how the future work will impact the community,” she said.

When we asked what a typical day looks like for them, this is how Liam and Serena answered.

They start the day at a pre-determined location and head off to the site they will be working on that day. Once all the equipment is gassed up and ready, they head out. Depending on the property size, all landscape students working may be in the same location on a given day – or for smaller projects, they split up.

Tasks include mowing lawns, clearing overgrowth, community waste cleanup, weeding and tree and bush pruning.

Both Liam and Serena agreed that the weather can be a challenge. Landscape maintenance students are often out rain or shine and in very hot weather. But they both said it was worth it.

“It’s better than any gym membership,” Liam said, adding that the group of students is very tight-knit and does a lot of socializing outside work hours.

Serena said she enjoys working with her supervisors.

When asked if they would recommend OCH to other students looking for a summer job – both said:

“100 percent. It is a lot of fun.”