A Students Perspective

My name is Randy L. Jeffries. I am an Alamance County resident and a recent graduate of the Geomatics Program at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Prior to being accepted into the Geomatics program, I completed an Associate’s degree in Surveying Technology at Guilford Technical Community College. My interest to gain more knowledge about Geomatics and Surveying came about while I had the privilege of working as a Field Crew Technician at Boswell Surveyor’s Inc. I was hired at Boswell Surveyor’s Inc. in the spring of 2005. I applied for the position after serving 4 years in the United States Marine Corps as a Field Artillery Officer. It was in the United States Marine Corps that I first saw, understood, and developed an appreciation for what surveyors and geomaticians do.

My near future goal is to become a Professional Land Surveyor in the State of North Carolina. Throughout my surveying career I have encountered numerous helpful and supportive individuals who have assisted in making this goal attainable. The employee staff at Boswell Surveyors Inc., as well as the faculty and staff at Guilford Technical Community College, and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University have been instrumental in my professional development as new aspiring surveyor. The employees of Boswell Surveyors Inc. taught me the basic clerical roles, duties, and responsibilities of a surveyor. The faculty and staff at Guilford Technical Community College fine-tuned these skills and introduced me to ideas used in land development and design along with the basic computations used in modern surveying. The Geomatics Professors at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University taught me about Survey Law, Survey Adjustment Computations, and Photogrammetric methods of surveying. My education and experiences have been a continual building process. One of the main objectives of the Geomatics program at North Carolina Agriculture and Technical State is to prepare students for the Fundamentals of Surveying Exam. There is a course in the curriculum called “Fundamentals of Surveying Exam Review” that is taught to support this objective. I completed this course during the spring of 2014. As a result, one of my most recent milestones is passing the Fundamentals of Surveying Exam. I am one step closer to my goal of becoming a Professional Land Surveyor. The next step in this process requires me to apply to the North Carolina Board of Engineers and Land Surveyors to become a Surveying Intern.

I can attribute my success to education and experiences. I anticipate using the knowledge and skills that I have gained along with more practice and studying to pass the Principles of Surveying Exam. I would like to recognize and give thanks to: Mr. J. Leo Boswell and his staff at Boswell Surveyors Inc., Mr. Terrance Garraway and the faculty of Guilford Technical Community College, last but definitely not least, Mrs. Peggy Fersner and Dr. Jerry Nave of the Geomtics program at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. None of my success, thus far, would have been possible without the help and dedication of the named individuals. I am both fortunate and proud to have been a part of these organizations and educational programs.