You wanna come mow my lawn?

After being asked last week, for what seems like the millionth time, if I was really slow at work because I couldn't work outside this time of year, I thought I would educate you all on what exactly I do. Since I started my endevors to become a Landscape Architect and have told people what I was going to be, I have gotten some really great questions from people that usually go like this. "Do you want to come over and mow my lawn?" "Do you want to come help me lay sod?" Do you want to help me install my landscaping?" PEOPLE?!!! If I really wanted to do that I would have earned a degree in grunt work. I earned a degree from Utah State University (Go Aggies!!!) in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning. I worked my rear-end off for 4 hard years pulling all-nighters in my studio to make sure that my projects were perfect. But, I can understand that some of you could get confused. I mean landscape architecture does have the word "landscape" in it and landscapers do landscape. Well, let me explain what I do. I am involved with the analysis, planning, design, management, and stewardship of the natural and built environments. The types of projects that Landscape Architects work on include: residential; parks and recreation; monuments; urban design; streetscapes and public spaces; transportation corridors and facilities; gardens and arboreta; security design; hospitality and resorts; institutional; academic campuses; therapeutic gardens; historic preservation and restoration; reclamation; conservation; corporate and commercial; landscape art and earth sculpture; interior landscapes; and more. I also made that BIG decision to take my registration exam this year. Yes, we landscape architects do have to be licensed. This is a VERY hard test that most takers do not pass the first time. Anyways, I just thought I would get that off my chest and now you are all educated on what a Landscape Architect is and what we do.