September 2009
Do You Know Any Interesting Interns? By Tim Hodson

Now that it is September and college students are returning to campus, GPN and Nexus Greenhouse Corp. are again looking for that one special student to be the 2010 GPN/Nexus Intern of the Year.

This is the 11th year that GPN and Nexus have partnered to recognize a deserving, exceptional college student who has completed an floriculture-related internship.

Paul Jemison, our 2009 GPN/Nexus Intern of the Year, joined us at OFA Short Course in July along with his academic adviser, Dr. Kimberly Williams. Paul is finishing up his studies at Kansas State University this semester and is eager to get out into the "real world" and contribute to the industry.

Our 2008 GPN/Nexus Intern of the Year, Eric Pitzen, was also at OFA Short Course — but as an employee of Syngenta Flowers, where he is a trials coordinator (see "Syngenta Hosts Open House" on page 8).

Calling All Interns

As Pitzen and Jemison have already experienced, the student named 2010 GPN/Nexus Intern of the Year will receive:

A $3,000 check, courtesy of Nexus Greenhouse Corp.
His or her photo on the cover of GPN
A feature-length profile in the January 2010 issue of GPN
An expense-paid trip to OFA Short Course, next July 10 in Columbus, Ohio
A four-day Short Course registration, compliments of OFA — an Association of Horticulture Professionals

To qualify for this scholarship, the student must fulfill this criteria:

Be enrolled in a four-year accredited U.S. college or university during the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 academic years
Be working on a floriculture-related undergraduate degree
Have completed a greenhouse internship in 2009

Qualified applicants who would like to be considered for the 2010 GPN/Nexus Intern of the Year Award should submit:

A cover letter requesting consideration for the scholarship, also stating what college or university the student is attending
A letter of recommendation on university letterhead from the student's adviser
A minimum 1,000-word essay describing the internship including where the student interned, key personnel the student worked with/for, what his/her responsibilities were and what the student learned during the internship
For more information on the scholarship competition turn to page 41.

Once all of the criteria have been met, mail the scholarship applications to:

GPN/Nexus Intern Scholarship
Tim Hodson
3030 W. Salt Creek Lane, Suite 201
Arlington Heights, IL 60005

The deadline for submissions is Oct. 30.

If you have questions about the scholarship, you can contact me at thodson@sgcmail.com.