On Thursday, Dallin Williams, a sophomore majoring in horticulture, awoke to the simmering synths of the Fortnite Chest noise. The alarm didn't wake his roommate, which he was grateful for. 

For Williams, breakfast usually consists of a granola bar and some fruit. On the way out, he grabbed a bag of snacks he packed the night before in preparation for the day ahead.

He hadn’t planned on going to college initially. But because of experiences he had on his mission, he decided to apply for college and to major in horticulture. 

“Transporting house plants between transfers became kind of a thing I was known for.” Williams said, "but I grew up gardening, grew up working outside, doing landscape stuff, just an interest of mine that's [been] built over the years.” 

Williams collected all kinds of plants on his mission. A cactus, an avocado and a spider plant, to name a few. 

Taking care of these plants gave Williams something to do when he wasn’t serving others. He would often keep these plants at his study desk. 

“Something I've always appreciated about plants is [that] the way [plants are] able to grow seems like magic,” Williams said. 

After his mission Williams found his current job on an email chain sent to students in his horticulture program at BYUI. The same professors that teach his classes also help oversee him on the job. 

His work maintaining the Thomas E. Ricks Gardens usually starts at 7 a.m. and goes until 11 a.m. Three days a week, Williams goes to class soon after his shift.  

One of his first projects was a broken sprinkler. Someone had accidentally mowed over the top of the sprinkler, which is a common occurrence according to Williams. 

Williams uses these tools on a regular basis at his job. Image credit: Sam Doty

In cases like this, the whole canister of the sprinkler needs to be replaced. He said it was a pretty simple job. He just needed to get a whole new sprinkler canister out of the shed and screw it onto a pipe in the ground. 

Once that job was done, he wanted to check his work by turning the sprinkler on and rotating it 360 degrees. To do this, Williams activated the sprinkler and charged straight into the shower of sprinkling water, shielding his face with his hand as he did, so he could turn it manually. 

His work checked out and he flitted through the gardens to turn on a few more sprinkler systems. 

“We have every sprinkler system on a timer, but sometimes [certain] areas don't get enough water.” Williams said, “so we have to manually hit those, usually our annual flower beds.” 

As Williams turned the sprinklers on to water the flower beds, he also checked the pipes around them to make sure they weren't broken. The maintenance  crew had rototilled the gardens the day before and he wanted to make sure nothing was broken.

Suddenly his co-worker, Andrea, came over and asked him to go help at Beaver Pond. 

There was an issue with the piping. It wasn't as tight as it should have been and water was flowing from the seal. 

At first Williams tried to tighten the pipe with his hands, but water continued to leak out. Within a few minutes, his co-worker, Diageo, showed up with a pip-wrench and they were able to stop the leak.

“There have been a lot of out of the ordinary problems that have arisen,” Williams said. 

Last year, he had to help build an entire sprinkler system with only a basic knowledge of sprinklers and landscaping. 

“YouTube has videos that can teach [me], but sometimes I just need to reach out to someone above my pay grade.” Williams said.

There are things that Williams enjoys about his job. He said his favorite part of work was watering plants. 

“It’s usually pretty hot outside and I have a chance to cool myself off with the sprinkler, and it's not too complicated.” Williams said.

Williams also loves to sit on Patsy’s Porch in the gardens. He shared that it's one of his favorite spots to take quick breaks.

“I like to hang out there, especially in the later season, when the grapes are around and they're ready to harvest. I usually eat grapes on the job.” Williams said. 

Being in nature also helps Williams to connect with God and get a way from the hustle and bustle of life 

“There’s been many times where I’ve been on the job and in thoughtful prayer [or] thoughtful meditation and I’m able to feel the spirit.” Williams said. 

Williams noted that many of God's creations don't seem to have any inherent use other than to make people happy.

"God's whole plan for us is to find joy here on the earth as we come to understand Him, and I think He wanted us to just have different experiences and just want us to be happy." Williams said, "so I think He made a lot of these things just for our benefit, our pleasure."