{"id":50191,"date":"2015-06-01T16:44:50","date_gmt":"2015-06-01T20:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.nybg.org\/plant-talk\/?p=50191"},"modified":"2015-06-02T10:14:50","modified_gmt":"2015-06-02T14:14:50","slug":"summer-intensives-start-next-month-2-students-share-their-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2015\/06\/adult-education\/summer-intensives-start-next-month-2-students-share-their-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Intensives Start Next Month: 2 Students Share Their Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Danielle<\/a>
Danielle Faustini<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NYBG Landscape Design student Danielle Faustini is on a crazy mission.<\/p>\n

Last week, she started working at a Manhattan landscape design firm, while completing freelance projects and wrapping up her education in The New York Botanical Garden\u2019s Certificate Program in anticipation of graduation on June 7.<\/p>\n

Faustini\u2019s education started in last summer\u2019s Landscape Design Summer Intensive<\/a>, an expedited five-week program that covers half of all required classroom hours toward a prestigious NYBG Certificate<\/a>. In one year, she finished the required 350 hours, while working full-time as a server in a restaurant and doing freelance design work on the side\u2014hence the crazy.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is short, you know?\u201d Faustini said. \u201cI told myself I would complete the Certificate Program within a year. It definitely wasn\u2019t easy, but you set your mind to something, and you do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"George<\/a>
Landscape Design students, Danielle Faustini and George Siriotis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Faustini and her Summer Intensive classmate George Siriotis, who also completed the Certificate Program in a year, saw the Intensive as an opportunity to jump into a new career with the support of like-minded, ambitious peers and industry-professional instructors.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get this very real, down-to-earth approach on how to design in the real world, as well as on the profession as a whole,\u201d Faustini said. \u201cBy the end of the Intensive, I felt I had gained such a wealth of information in such a short time,\u201d Faustini said.<\/p>\n

Similarily, Siriotis said, \u201cThe program gives you a broad exposure to the field, and you walk away with some very specific drawing and design skills you likely didn\u2019t have when you started. I also appreciated the opportunity to take classes in computer-aided design, as I\u2019m finding these skills are sought after in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"George<\/a>
George Siriotis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Siriotis, who left his executive position at a health insurance company he worked at for over 20 years, learned about the NYBG Landscape Design Program in a way some might describe as a fate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was walking my dog one day, and one of my neighbors and I were chatting about life and what to do next,\u201d he said. \u201cShe mentioned she completed the Intensive the prior summer and suggested I check out the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a few days of research, he enrolled and was immediately hooked on landscape design.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was immersed in a brand-new world of creative thinking and problem solving,\u201d he said. Another enticing element was \u201chaving The New York Botanical Garden as your playground.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siriotis has since started his own firm, the aptly named Transitions Landscape Design, LLC, working currently on residential projects, with the intention to connect with an established design\/build company to work on larger projects. He also works part-time at a local garden center, where he is gaining even more hands-on plant knowledge and answering customers\u2019 design questions.<\/p>\n

\"0615-george-siriotis-work1-789x306\"<\/a>
Rendering by George Siriotis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Landscape design is more than just a career\u2014it\u2019s a way to change the world for the better. Landscape designers\u2014Fausitini and Siriotis both believe\u2014have an opportunity to help alleviate environmental and ecological concerns through storm water management, reducing pollution via planting, or reducing the energy a building wastes using green roofs.<\/p>\n

\u201cLandscape design is playing a vital role in the fight to make this world a better place,\u201d Faustini said.<\/p>\n

\"0615-george-siriotis-work2-524x435\"<\/a>
Rendering by George Siriotis<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a smaller scale, the industry is dedicated to renovating spaces and creating retreats.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s about leaving a space that\u2019s more beautiful and functional than you found it,\u201d Siriotis said. \u201cLandscape design gives people a personal retreat that brings them happiness, where they can relax after a long day of work, or enjoy celebrations with family and friends.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both students completed the Intensive with the certainty they were pursuing the right field, and they encourage others to embrace opportunities to make a necessary change.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never too late to try something new,\u201d Siriotis said. \u201cFigure out how to make it work, and just go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faustini\u2019s advice comes with a friendly warning: \u201cBe prepared to put in a lot of hours,\u201d she said. \u201cBut it is so<\/em> worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adults thinking about a career change or delving further into training in Floral Design, Gardening, Landscape Design, Botanical Art & Illustration, or Horticultural Therapy, can enroll in the Garden\u2019s Summer Intensive Programs, beginning July 13. <\/em>Learn more about Summer Intensives<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diving Into Landscape Design: two fearless alumni of NYBG Adult Education’s Landscape Design Summer Intensive discuss what motivates them to jump start their career change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":183,"featured_media":50194,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[438],"tags":[4558,4559,433,2440,2620,2588],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/0615-george-and-danielle-500x324.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/ph0lU-d3x","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50191"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/183"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50191"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50210,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50191\/revisions\/50210"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}