kazawaza asked: Would you encourage someone with a career goal of working extensively with plants to pursue a major in horticultural science or botany? Is experience or formal education more important for opening up doors in the field? Is it justifiable? Some people seem to think it is a waste of time and money and there are no jobs in the field. When I bring up going to school for something other than healthcare or computer science, the blank stare I receive from people is kind of discouraging.
“Discouraging” is hitting the nail on the head. Being an English major, the responses I’d get when announcing my chosen track usually ran the gamut from sympathetic pats on the back to outright laughter. It was always a shot to the gut—being told to follow passion one minute and pragmatism the next. But empathy doesn’t answer your question, so I passed it along to a couple of our NYBG experts to see if they could offer any advice.
Naturally, these are their own opinions as individuals, separate from that of the NYBG itself. It’s likely some of our other botanists and horticulturists would have very different opinions based on their own experiences, as will others on Tumblr, and there’s plenty of debate to be had there (which is likely for naught—personal experience is just that: personal). But I hope you can glean something from these answers. —MN
