Final Thoughts

Studying Abroad at Pershore College was a tremendous experience, spending 6 weeks in a beautiful foreign country on an educational vacation.

Most professors were a lot of fun and went the extra mile to make the best of our experience. Even though we were flying by the seat of our pants a lot of the time, we managed to make out fairly well.

The practical side of the program is a great promotion to the experience that we really do not get at Auburn. It was neat to be able to see and participate in the various aspects of the commercial nursery at the college. The combination of coursework, practical work, and garden visits made the study abroad fun and very educational at the same time.

Even though the level of coursework and testing was not what we would get at Auburn, I still learned a lot and it was neat just to get a different perspective on how other people do things within horticulture.

Visiting 10+ gardens of the caliper that we toured is not an opportunity that we have in the States. It was also very nice to have Tony escort us around the gardens. I think having a guide is a necessity to get the most out of the garden tours. He was very knowledgeable and pointed out the things that we would’ve never noticed. The trips Bransford Webbs Nursery and Burford Garden Company were a good edition in making the program more well rounded by opening our eyes to the production and retail side of the industry in this country.

The group of Auburn students became a family, even going as far as to assign father, mother, brother, sister, etc. We learned a lot about each other and I look forward to seeing them around Funchess and throughout their careers. This is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life, particularly because of all the people that were involved.