All trees look alike!

On my first day as an intern for the Parks Department, I had to identify trees! This was one of my biggest concerns prior to starting the internship. For I didn't have any experience whatsoever identifying tree species! Fortunately, I was provided with a tree guide, titled "New York City Trees", containing basic information of the most common trees in New York City. The photographs of trees' leaves and bark it included significantly helped me determine the species each tree.
On that first day, I spent my time identifying and categorizing about 10 trees; each of them according to their physical condition. Some of these trees were excellent. Others were in either good or fair condition. At the beginning though, all trees looked alike!
In the past, I never stopped at a park to examine trees’ leaves or barks. But as a GIS tree inventory intern, that was exactly what I had to do. Maple trees looked all alike to each other, for example. Looking for a maple tree’s fruit, however, was definitely a giveaway. The problem then was that some trees didn't have any fruit. Some of the trees’ wither during the summertime, making it hard sometime to tell what species they belong to.
Aware that by working on different city parks I was going to acquire arboriculture knowledge, motivated me to bear the hot summer days that waited for me.