The Perfect Ending: My Experience Conducting Research at the University of Guelph Arboretum
In early September of 2019, I received an email describing an amazing experiential learning opportunity, a course on the history of The Arboretum. The final outcome of the course was intended to be a short book that would be sold as a fundraiser for their 50th anniversary celebrations in 2020. As soon as I read this email, I knew that the opportunity aligned with my interests, and before I knew it, I met with Dr. Kim Martin and my fellow classmates. We were on our way. Together, we conducted plenty of archival research in McLaughlin library, documenting information from newspapers, press releases, original map drawings, and even photographs. We then conducted a series of oral history interviews with both current and former Arboretum staff members. Although the second semester working on this project was cut short due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, the skills and experiences I gained from working with the team will assist me in the years to come.