I chose Otago because I'd already lived in Dunedin for five years – at boarding school - so it made sense to stay put! I was rowing with the local club and I wanted to keep that going.
In my final year of high school my Geography teacher suggested that I consider Surveying. I had one meeting with our Career's adviser, told her of that idea, and by the end of that meeting she'd planned all my papers for first year!
I really liked the idea that there would be an outdoor aspect to your job (although this decreases as your qualifications increase!). It was different to what everyone else was doing and I didn't mind going from a single sex high school to a male dominated course! The School also has a great social side as well, which helped forge long lasting friendships.
In Surveying there's heaps of practical work and assignments throughout the four years. As well as that, work experience is a requirement for graduation. Whilst the academic side is always a necessity, I feel the best way to learn is to immerse yourself in real working scenarios. It meant that when I started my job I wasn't completely overwhelmed with the tasks at hand.
So now I am a Registered Land Surveyor in NSW and ACT in Australia. I've been working at the same office for the last 5 years in Yass, a small country town just across the border from Canberra. I recently bought the practice with a colleague so now I'm also one of the company's directors.
We are a fairly small office here, with only 5 staff, and that has set me up with a good grasp of a wide range of topics over a short period of time. We take care of subdivisions right from the planning and development stage, through to the registration with the Lands Department, and with only 5 people, you often take a job right the way through the process yourself. The majority of our work revolves around subdivisions, both urban and rural. We also deal with topographic surveys, identification surveys, engineering/road set out and offer project management services. The work is always changing and challenging which prevents any chance of boredom!
So if you are interested in a career that allows you to work both indoors and outdoors and enjoy Geography and/or Maths then Surveying is the course for you. It can lead to further opportunities in land development, construction and town planning. It may be four hard years, but at the end of it you have a degree that is in high demand and has a good rate of employment. And if you're a female, get ready to be a minority!