Maeve Kennedy, Co-op Student of the Year, Associate Diploma: My name is Maeve Kennedy. I'm a second year horticulture co-op student at the University of Guelph, Ridgtown campus.

Maeve: For my co-op this summer, I worked at Juniper Tree Nursery for JDI Woodlands Division. My role there was a student grower. My responsibilities include germination, fertilizing, and crop scouting.

Action: Maeve waters plants in a greenhouse.

Maeve: Every day I showed up and I put my best foot forward. I tried to stay organized, make the most out of my day.

Evan Kilpatrick, Nominator, J.D. Irving: Maeve's personality, eagerness to learn, and her predisposed knowledge makes her stand out to me. Maeve is easily the smartest and brightest student I've had the privilege of working with. She improved morale, communication, organization, also had a drive for improvement.

Action: Maeve examines plants for signs of health and disease.

Maeve: What enabled me for this role was my passion for the industry. I always loved the horticulture industry and the Ag industry. I grew up on my parents' beef farm.

Maeve: The biggest challenge for me was moving so far away, being 10 hours away from home. I would say I just overcame that because I knew I was in the right spot and just everyone there was willing to help me out.

Maeve: My biggest impact would definitely be during their sowing season in the summer. We were able to get a germination rate of 97%.

Action: Maeve examines germinating plants.

Evan: Maeve learned very quickly, making decisions surrounding misting and germination phase and improving irrigation practices. Her skill set reduced training time and improved key metrics.

Evan: We'll be completely rethinking the way we hire students in the future.

Maeve: My dream career for myself would be to own and operate my own ornamental facility. I've always had a passion for plant flowers, especially. Really getting into that ornamental sector will definitely help me achieve this goal.

Action: Maeve admires a flower that's growing in the greenhouse and smiles.