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<\/p>\nThe UCF public garden management team and student volunteers grabbed a pair of gloves and headed outside the L3Harris building on Sept. 30 for a community garden shift with the Arboretum.<\/p>\n
The Arboretum volunteers dedicated their time to keeping the campus community garden clean and green.<\/p>\n
The event coordinator, Analiyah Sanchez, freshman biology major, said the team had \u201cquite a few volunteers lined up and a big task to handle.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the arboretum garden, volunteers spent most of the event pulling weeds and removing unwanted sticks. However, the biggest task was trimming the bitter melon vine off the plant it was growing on.<\/p>\n
Shifts are held on Tuesdays and Wednesdays every week at various gardening spots around campus.<\/p>\n
This is a way for students to get required volunteer hours; it\u2019s also an opportunity to give back to their campus. With midterm exams just around the corner, these events give students a chance to decompress from the pressures of everyday life.<\/p>\n
“You get to just let it all go and take care of nature and kind of just like touch grass, reconnect with the Earth,” Sanchez said.<\/p>\n
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Sadie Avery, freshman psychology major, kneels down to pull weeds from the ground at the Arboretum\u2019s public garden management volunteer shift on Sept. 30. “It just makes me happy to give back to wildlife,” Avery said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Public Garden Management Co-Coordinator at UCF Arboretum, Analiyah Sanchez, freshman biology major, is overseeing the removal of bitter melon from the bush at the volunteer shift on Sept. 30. “Everyone can kind of inject their passion into the work they do at the Arboretum,” Sanchez said.<\/p>\n
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After the Arboretum public garden volunteer management shift on Sept. 30, student volunteers are talking and laughing as they take out the bags of weeds, leaves and sticks they gathered during the shift.\u00a0“Honestly, coming here doesn’t even feel like a job; it feels like just playing outside with your friends,” Sanchez said.<\/p>\n
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A White Peacock butterfly fluttered around the garden at the Arboretum’s public garden management shift on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n
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Sadie Avery (middle) throws away a handful of weeds\u00a0as event organizer, Analiyah Sanchez (right), talks to volunteers at the Arboretum public garden shift on Sept. 30. “When you’re here, it’s just like everything fades away,” Sanchez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6ac7025c29490.image.jpg\"\/)
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Students watch as event organizer Analiyah Sanchez, freshman biology major,\u00a0demonstrates from inside the vines how to tackle this bitter melon during the public garden management shift on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6ac7028fed55b.image.jpg\"\/)
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Yu-Ting Kao, senior environmental science major, picks up the weeds and bitter melon during the Arboretum public garden management shift held on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6ac703dfde91d.image.jpg\"\/)
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At the Arboretum public garden management shift on Sept. 30, a large bitter melon vine was present. Sanchez said there was a “big task to handle,” and this bitter melon vine was it.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/6ac701659dac3.image.jpg\"\/)
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The UCF Arboretum sign led students right to the public garden management shift on Sept. 30. Students spent the hour-long shift removing the overgrowth in the public garden.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Sadie Avery, freshman psychology major, kneels down to pull weeds from the ground at the Arboretum\u2019s public garden management volunteer shift on Sept. 30. “It just makes me happy to give back to wildlife,” Avery said.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Public Garden Management Co-Coordinator at UCF Arboretum, Analiyah Sanchez, freshman biology major, is overseeing the removal of bitter melon from the bush at the volunteer shift on Sept. 30. “Everyone can kind of inject their passion into the work they do at the Arboretum,” Sanchez said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n After the Arboretum public garden volunteer management shift on Sept. 30, student volunteers are talking and laughing as they take out the bags of weeds, leaves and sticks they gathered during the shift.\u00a0“Honestly, coming here doesn’t even feel like a job; it feels like just playing outside with your friends,” Sanchez said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n A White Peacock butterfly fluttered around the garden at the Arboretum’s public garden management shift on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Sadie Avery (middle) throws away a handful of weeds\u00a0as event organizer, Analiyah Sanchez (right), talks to volunteers at the Arboretum public garden shift on Sept. 30. “When you’re here, it’s just like everything fades away,” Sanchez said.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Students watch as event organizer Analiyah Sanchez, freshman biology major,\u00a0demonstrates from inside the vines how to tackle this bitter melon during the public garden management shift on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Yu-Ting Kao, senior environmental science major, picks up the weeds and bitter melon during the Arboretum public garden management shift held on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n