In my life, I have not always been confident. I have been worried, nervous, and overanalyzing of every situation. Mrs. Tanya Moens has been the catalyst that has made me more confident in my abilities, those around me, and the world at large. Even though when I met her I had few skills in the way of horticulture or people, she saw something in me that I had not seen and offered me a job. She offered me an opportunity to be better and I feel that I have become better through this.
It has been three years since Tanya hired me to water her large garden in the morning. She has since added to my list of duties and my knowledge of the plants. I now have to water, prune, weed, spray pesticide, and care for the vegetables every other day while she travels. When she gets back, she makes sure to fill me in on her travels and listen to me on any topic I choose to talk about. She has taught me how to prune clematis, talk to adults in a professional environment, have confidence in myself, and more. I now know how and when to water the plants that need it. Without her, I would not be looking into an environmental engineering career nor be so active in agriculturally related fields.
Even before Mrs. Moens set up an organized way of paying, she overpaid me. Even then she felt that she needed to encourage me to love plants. Now that I work for her at an hourly rate, she rounds up tens of dollars on every single check. She has made sure that it is evident to me that she values my work for her. What I do for her every summer is a favor to her. I wake up at 5 in the morning every other day and water for 3 hours, then prune or weed in the evening. All the while she is in Spain on a work trip, Never once has she taken me for granted, and that has allowed me to take pride in what I do for her. It is why I research the plants she has, so I know how to handle them with the changing seasons. The garden is never stagnant, and with Tanya’s care, neither am I.
I fear that without more people like Tanya in the world, kids are not going to grow up with the confidence to follow what interests them. Without people like her, kids might never get interested in topics that can further themselves. Finally, without people like her, kids might not care about their futures, other people, or be able to put their faith in others. I know that, living in a small town, I am exposed to more adults like Mrs. Tanya Moens, but I wish there were more of her for others to get better as well.