A life replanted

Mercedes Burks ’25 didn’t come to the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences straight from high school. She arrived with a full résumé, three children and more than a few hard-earned lessons.

By the time she came to the Department of Horticultural Sciences, Burks had already worn many hats — restaurant worker, homeschool parent and caregiver. Her journey also included deeply personal trials: navigating her son’s childhood cancer and grieving the loss of her daughter and her best friend.

Amid it all, she rediscovered something that grounded her — getting her hands in the dirt.

“Horticulture didn’t just give me a career path,” Burks said. “It helped me reconnect with the world.”

Now set to graduate in May, Burks represents the kind of student whose story doesn’t fit a standard template and the kind of success the College is proud to support.

A family, a move and a fresh start

Burks grew up between Amarillo and Round Rock and spent much of her early adulthood juggling work and motherhood. After her oldest child, Neo, was diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma as an infant, Burks made the difficult decision to step away from her initial attempt at college. When her daughter Lennon passed away in 2016 due to a congenital heart defect, everything shifted again.

“I couldn’t keep homeschooling after that,” she said. “I knew my kids needed more stability.”

After spending a few years working in her children’s school, her best friend passed away unexpectedly. This left her searching for connection and something tangible to hold on to.

That something became horticulture. Working in a nursery while working toward an associate degree in biology and herbalism, Burks found the clarity and calm she had been missing. When she realized she wanted to take her studies further, she looked for a program that matched her ambition, and found Texas A&M.

“I grew up a Longhorn fan,” she said, laughing. “But UT didn’t offer the program I needed. Texas A&M did. And when I visited and met with the horticulture department, I felt like I was supposed to be here.”

She and her family took the leap for her education, selling their home and moving to College Station so she could pursue her degree full time.

Getting her hands in the dirt and on the map

Burks quickly immersed herself in the department, especially through student organizations. She joined the Horticulture Club and now serves as its greenhouse manager, balancing coursework with her leadership responsibilities.

The College also opened the door to experiences she never imagined, including traveling to Hawaii for a national horticulture conference and to Brazil to study in the Amazon.

“I’d never left the country before,” she said. “Then suddenly I’m hiking in Kauai and standing in a remote Amazon village learning how to harvest manioc root. It’s surreal.”

However, those trips weren’t just academic opportunities and fun trips for Burks. The biodiversity of Brazil, the sustainable communities she visited, and even the time spent canoeing through drought-affected regions left a lasting impression.

“It was emotional,” she said. “Watching those villages thrive without modern infrastructure reminded me of how much we can learn from the natural world, and how much peace there is in slowing down.”

Digging in despite setbacks

Returning to a traditional classroom after earning her associate degree online was a major adjustment, but Burks said the faculty and culture at Texas A&M helped her succeed, even after finding out that her GPA from college courses she had to withdraw from 16 years earlier would still count against her.

“I panicked when I realized that,” she said. “But the admissions team worked with me. The professors here have inspired me to keep pushing myself. I don’t want to let them down.”

In addition to her horticulture courses, Burks is pursuing a minor from the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology and takes pride in soaking up knowledge across disciplines. Even passing conversations in the hallways have turned into unexpected lessons.

“I once learned more from a five-minute chat with a fire ecology professor than I would have from a lecture,” she said. “That’s what Texas A&M gives you: access to brilliant people who actually want to share what they know.”

Growing forward and giving back

After graduation, Burks hopes to spend a few years building experience in public gardens or estate horticulture while continuing to work part-time at the Round Rock nursery that helped launch her new career. Eventually, her dream is to open a small, family-run organic greenhouse that emphasizes medicinal plant uses, a space for education, healing and sustainable community.

“I want to create a place that gives people what horticulture gave me,” she said. “And I want my employees to feel the same safety and support that helped me get through some of the hardest parts of my life.”

For those who think they are behind in life, Burks offers insight and inspiration that there is no cookie-cutter timeline for your career or education.

“I used to think I was behind,” she said. “That I’d missed my chance. But there is no one right timeline for learning or living.”