Greenhorn
Hello,
I am a sophomore at Vincennes University in the Surveying Management bachelor program. I have been in the surveying field since July of 2020. I am employed by Hand to the Plow Surveying, LLC, based in Noble County, Indiana. We do boundry work, site plans, and occasionaly stake buildigs and tiles. My goal is to become a liscenced surveyor in the state of Indiana and to have my own company.
I have always liked maps and navigation. After every vacation I would have my pack full of maps. I am an Eagle Scout. Boy Scouts gave me the opportunity to gain basic skills in orienteering, pioneering and other outdoors skills. Through highschool, our vacations would entail the family taking random backroades that were on county and state maps into the middle of nowhere in places like the UP of Michigan, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Colorado, Kentucky, and Tennessee. I have never been lost, just momentarily displaced. (We also had a GPS just in case.)
I had never thought of using these skills in my profession. I was at Purdue Fort Wayne my freshman year. Engineering seemed to fit my interests in math and science. I had never thought of being a Surveyor. Engineering seemed ok but I wanted to be in the field part of the time. Engineering seemed like an office job more than a field job. Two weeks into classes, I was struggling with staying in or transferring out of engineering. Then, a family friend mentioned Surveying.
My mind was blown. I did research into Surveying and was intrigued. On of my neighbors (who is a surveyor) came over to have his truck worked on. While my dad worked on his truck, I talked to him for three hours or so. In a few days I went in for a job shadow. Within a week I had a job and here I am a year later. I switched to Vincennes University because Purdue has surveying only as a masters program. I will graduate from Vincennes in three years instead of four. I will have a head start on engineering if I want to stay in school.
I don’t understand why I hadn’t thought of or no one had pushed me towards surveying. Surveyors are desperately needed and highschools are not pushing it. I would have thought that schools would have pushed a career that needes young people to fill the ranks.
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