Land surveying has been a positive influence on my life, and I'd encourage anyone who hasn't considered it to give it a chance!

Land surveyors start as employees, and move up to partnership in a firm or to ownership of their own enterprise if they wish. Some wind up working for government, private corporations, or public enterprise.

Land surveyors can spend as much time reading legislation, bylaws, and engineering documents as we spend in front of an instrument in the field or calculating coordinates for a subdivision. We are mathematicians, historians, project managers, advocates, engineers, and even chainsaw operators!

It's easy to be hard on ourselves, but the important thing is to turn a mistake into a learning experience.

Sometimes I imagine a surveyor 100 years from now reading my plan, retracing my boundaries, and finding the monuments that I set. It's an honor to make a mark in history like that.

Learning how to weigh evidence and fairly re-establish a boundary can be as much an art as a science.

If you're looking for an adventure, an intellectual challenge, and a close-knit community of professionals, consider land surveying! It's not for everyone, and I'd recommend working as a surveyor's assistant or office staff before committing to the necessary schooling.