Marcus Recile is senior at Utica College and stumbled upon the greenhouse. He decided to become involved and created a beautiful atmosphere in there. He developed a passion for it and encourages more people to reach out and become involved.
Celeste Gessner (CG): How did you get involved with the greenhouse?
Marcus Recile (MR): I first got involved with the greenhouse on my first day on campus at Utica College. It was accepted students day and I had walked across White Hall and I looked to my left and I was actually blown away by the fact that there was a greenhouse. From that point on I was driven to see what they had going on and I wanted to see what I could bring to the campus. In reality I didn’t have much interest in plants when I first came here, But I figured it would be fun to go and work in a place like that at college.
CG: What do you do in the greenhouse?
MR: I pretty much take care and manage the whole place. I run it theoretically like a business compared to how it was run before. It was run more of a collectors kind of place as opposed to being a business. Siince I’ve been there, I’ve been since reviving it and kind of bringing it up to a status where it’s not run by the faculty but the students. The daily things I do in there consist of watering, fertilizing, cloning, I’m kind of like the plant doctor, I guess.
CG: Do you feel like working in the greenhouse has given you a sense of appreciation for nature?
MR: I can say that it’s done more then just give me an appreciation. Working there has been self-enlightening, I would say. I learned a lot more then myself and a lot of personal things I needed to develop as an incoming college student like discipline.
CG: How do you get involved with helping?
MR: A lot of people come to me and are interested in it. It usually comes down to me giving the tour of the greenhouse, telling people what we have going on. I want to have as many students engaged as possible by showing them what I can do and what they can do and how it can apply to there everyday lives as college students. I also like to show them the pretty side but also the nitty gritty of working there. It’s more than just watering plants, it’s more than just how it looks.
CG: Do you like working there and why?
MR: I love working there, I think it’s the best place on campus. I love working there because especially here in Utica, it’s cold here and in this negative weather I have the blessing to work in a place that’s 80 degrees, it feels like a tropical oasis in this tundra. Although the place isn’t huge, I go in there and see something that I thought I knew everything about but turns out I didn’t. It’s taught me to look close because if you look too fast, you might just miss something.
CG: Is there anything else you would like to tell me about the greenhouse?
MR: From my perspective, I really feel like the greenhouse here at Utica College is completely underrated facility. It’s an overlooked place that more people should take advantage of especially here as a college that likes to pride itself on making strides and progression. I think the administration should invest more to make the student and faculty aware of the greenhouse. Over the past four years, I’ve had people come and say to me “We have a greenhouse?” Of course, I’m sorry that you missed out on this and a chance to find a new hobby or a passion I just feel like Utica College needs to invest more in this place so it can be brought to its full potential.
The greenhouse has become one of Marcus’ favorite place since starting here at Utica and I can see why. After seeing the greenhouse numerous times, I can see why he loves working there. This facility has a lot to offer and can only improve moving forward.