The Gardeners’ Club awarded 3 Cabrillo horticulture students with $500 scholarships. Cabrillo Horticulture Department Chair Sarah Patino Hulick, at left, and propagation teacher Nicky Hughes, at right, presented awards to Evelyn Avalos Quiroz, Ali Hofer, and Paloma Garcia at the April 11 meeting at the Aptos Grange.
Evelyn Avalos Quiroz is 19 and a first-generation college student. She is attending Cabrillo College taking horticulture classes and also is in a 2+2 program with hopes of ransferring to CSU Monterey Bay in 2 years.
“For my future, I hope to open my flower shop as well as grow my flowers to sell in farmers’ markets and stores as well,” she said. “At the moment I am studying how to grow plants and how to care for them and their names as well. I am also a small business owner where I make flower bouquets for all types of occasions.”
Ali Hofer is almost done with her associate’s degree in general horticulture with an ornamental crop production emphasis at Cabrillo College. She works as a student assistant/intern in the Horticulture Department.
“I am pleased with how much I have learned in my short time at Cabrillo and am still excited to come back everyday and learn some more!” she said. “My favorite classes have been the plant ID courses because I love getting to know the plants around us and their needs. I’ve been accepted for a year-long internship at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. starting a few weeks after graduation, where I’ll be focusing on their conifer, dogwood, and azalea collections. These aren’t plants I’m used to working with, so I’m happy to expand my knowledge in a new place, and see what it’s like growing plants in another USDA zone. I’m excited about this opportunity because I want to see if botanical gardens/conservatories are what I’d like to focus on as a career path; working with the ornamental plants I love so much.”
Paloma Garcia is in her last semester at Cabrillo College getting an associate’s degree in landscape horticulture. She works in the Cabrillo Horticulture Department managing the Farmers Market on Saturdays in Aptos.
She said, “I love medicinal plants and taking care of the earth and people. My dream is to weave my interest in plant medicine, earth care and tending to people to support overall ecological wellness. Further connecting people to themselves and the earth in deeper, more conscious ways.”
Photo Courtesy of Cherry Thompson