Aaron Harpold
Groundsworker

What do you do at Drake?
I’m a groundsworker—I take care of horticulture on campus, like flower beds. Our team works with 130,000 square feet of beds. I’m also a certified arborist and take care of smaller trees on campus.

What’s your favorite spot on campus?
It really depends on the season. Right now I’m really digging the Quad in between the first year residence halls. When you walk down into the quad it’s like you’re in a different place. We’ve been noticing more students going down there, which is great. It’s a nice spot. Another favorite spot is the Meredith Atrium. That space is so secluded; the aspect of stillness and quiet remind me of my work in the Japanese gardens in Long Beach.

You haven’t always been in horticulture—what did you do before this?
I got my BFA from Carnegie Mellon and I was an actor in New York City in my 20s. I did some shows on Broadway and was in a few episodes of shows like Law & Order. One of my favorite name-drop stories is when I read two lines of Shakespeare with Al Pacino’s hand on my back for a movie—it got cut, but I was floating on that experience for probably a week.