Beyond the classroom: Penn State student finds new perspective through Arboretum internship

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – When Adelaine Craghead-Hackman works in the gardens at the Arboretum at Penn State, she sometimes has a few unexpected visitors.

As she turns over soil and tends to garden beds, robins hop nearby, searching for worms in the freshly disturbed ground. For Craghead-Hackman, a third-year landscape architecture student, these small encounters have become some of the most memorable parts of her internship.

What began as an opportunity to gain hands-on experience in her field has grown into something more: a deeper understanding of the relationship between landscape design, horticulture and the ecosystems that bring outdoor spaces to life.

“Working at the Arboretum gave me a new sense of joy for every living thing in the world,” Craghead-Hackman said.

Originally from Springfield, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., Craghead-Hackman is pursuing a degree in landscape architecture with a minor in sustainability leadership. Her interest in the natural world began long before she arrived at Penn State.

Growing up, she spent time volunteering and eventually working at Hidden Pond Nature Center in her hometown; she helped care for animals and participated in planting activities. Combined with her interest in art and mathematics, those experiences eventually led her toward landscape architecture.

However, that wasn’t always her intended career path. Craghead-Hackman originally planned to study mathematics, applying to other universities with a major in mind. Landscape architecture was an alternative she considered when applying to Penn State. After visiting campus and sitting in a class, she realized the program offered a combination of her interests. She decided to take a chance on the unfamiliar fields, and the decision paid off.

“I ended up loving it,” she said. “It’s a really great mix of everything I want to do.”

Putting classroom knowledge into practice

Craghead-Hackman discovered the seasonal horticulture internship through weekly opportunity announcements from Penn State’s Stuckeman School in the College of Arts and Architecture. Although she had interviewed with landscape architecture firms, she felt the Arboretum offered an experience that better aligned with her interests.

Now several months into her internships, she works primarily in the Arboretum’s Pollinator and Bird Garden, where she helps maintain plantings, manage weeds and support the long-term health of the landscape.

During the summer, she independently maintained two garden beds and developed a formal planting plan for a newly planted garden bed, documenting the plant selections made by her horticulture technician. The experience has also given her the opportunity to apply knowledge from her landscape architecture coursework, particularly plant identification.

Through her classes in Penn State’s Stuckeman School, including a three-day field experience dedicated to studying plants, Craghead-Hackman developed a foundation in identifying different species. That knowledge proved valuable when she began working with the native plants found throughout the Pollinator and Bird Garden.

Still, she quickly discovered that recognizing a plant and understanding how to care for it are two different things.

“It’s one thing to read about a plant online. It’s another thing to work with it,” she said.

For Craghead-Hackman, that distinction has become one of the most important lessons of her internship. While landscape architects design outdoor spaces, horticulture professionals are often responsible for maintaining those designs long after installation. Working directly with plants has allowed her to better understand the challenges that can arise when a landscape moves from a drawing to a living environment.

She said the experience has also changed the way she approaches her own design work, encouraging her to think more carefully about plant selection and long-term maintenance.

Learning from the professionals

Beyond her daily responsibilities, Craghead-Hackman has benefited from working alongside experienced horticulture professionals.

Through Penn State’s Office of Physical Plant, she works with horticulture technicians who have shared practical knowledge about planting techniques, soil conditions and garden maintenance. These interactions have introduced her to details that are not always emphasized in traditional landscape architecture coursework.

The internship has also provided professional development opportunities off campus. Through organized trips, Craghead-Hackman has visited public gardens and landscapes, including the Brooklyn Botanic garden and the High Line in New York City. Exploring these spaces alongside horticulture professionals has allowed her to learn about the decisions and challenges involved in maintaining prominent landscapes.

She has also gained a new appreciation for how landscapes plans are interpreted by people outside the design profession. While students learn to develop detailed drawings and plans, Craghead-Hackman said working with contractors and horticulture professionals has shown her the importance of making those documents understandable to the people responsible for bringing them to life.

Seeing the installation process firsthand has helped her recognize how communication between designers and maintenance professionals can influence a project’s success.

A different way of seeing the Arboretum

For many students and visitors, the Arboretum is a place to walk, relax, or admire seasonal displays. For Craghead-Hackman, spending hours maintaining its landscapes has created a difference connection to the space. Rather than seeing the gardens solely as carefully arranged plants and pathways, she has come to recognize them as living ecosystems that require continuous care.

She has also enjoyed seeing her academic and professional experiences overlap. When professors bring classes to the Arboretum, she gets to see students learning in the same environment where she works. Her internship has also strengthened her interest in the ecological side of landscape architecture and helped her better understand the direction she hopes to take after graduation.

Although she has always been passionate about nature, Craghead-Hackman said she is now considering graduate study in plant science or horticulture to expand her knowledge. The experience has not completely changed her career goals, she said, but it has helped her identify the areas of the profession she wants to explore further.

And while the technical skills and professional connections will continue to benefit her, some of her most meaningful lessons have come from simply spending time in the garden. From observing plants throughout the growing season to watching robins gather around freshly turned soil, Craghead-Hackman developed a greater appreciation for the natural world and the small interactions that often go unnoticed.

For students considering an internship related to their major, her advice is simple.

“Just go for it,” she said. “No point in not trying.”

For Craghead-Hackman, taking that chance has turned a campus landmark into a place of professional growth, hands-on discovery and new appreciation for the living landscapes she hopes to design.