City Trees

not, colleagues don't invest as much in you in the first year or so, until they see that you're going to stay. So that first year can be kind of lonely, which is why things like men- torship and peer group support can be so important." "Like Darren, I'm the only arborist in my department," Solis says. "Darren shared his experiences about his early years in his job; it was a relief to hear that my challenges aren't unique, and that they can be overcome." Solis says that he also felt greatly reassured after the first meeting of the full mentors and mentees cohort. "Everybody expressed similar thoughts and concerns as mine, so I felt that this was the right group for me," he says. Solis says he was nervous to meet his mentor—someone with such an impressive resume—for the first time, but quickly found that Green was easy to talk to. One of the challenges Solis expressed to Green was around his workload and getting everything done. Green says, "I told him that everyone in the city is overloaded—and that his boss knows this." Green suggested that Solis go to his boss and ask for some help with prioritizing the work. "It shows you are being thoughtful about how to use your time," Green says. "I have found that as long as supervisors see employees working hard and being good people, they will show you grace, and with time you will gain more respect." Another piece of advice Green had to offer was around expanding one's reach. In his work, Solis is responsible for development review and tree protection permit reviews; however, he can't get to all 150 tree protection sites as fre- quently as he would like. Green suggested that Solis make friends with the other inspectors, like those in the plumbing and electrical divisions, and say, "Hey, when you're at the site, would you look out for these one or two things with the trees?" Solis is putting that advice into practice. He says, "I had a meeting with our new development site inspection team and asked them to send me photos if they see certain red flags, like trenching too close to trees—and I explained why that's so harmful to trees. Already, a colleague on the team sent me some photos, leading me to notify the people in Parks and Recreation who handle tree violations." What has mentoring meant to Green? "It reminds me of how precarious things can be when you first start a new job," he says. "It makes me thankful for the lon- gevity I have now and the significant institutional knowledge I've acquired over the years. Our conver- sations put things in perspective for me, too." >> "I told Andrés that whether they do it consciously or not, colleagues don't invest as much in you in the first year or so, until they see that you're going to stay. So that first year can be kind of lonely, which is why things like mentorship and peer group support can be so important." Darren Green ucfsociety.org 17

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