By Laurie Weidner, Rancho Santiago Community College District
Melissa Gruner is a tall, attractive, articulate brunette. With her poise and confidence, you would easily place her as an attorney. Not surprising, she served as a paralegal for many years. But, it's hard to fathom that she, by design, trained and worked for years as a cement mixer truck driver and is now on her way to becoming a licensed land surveyor, thanks to the program offered at Santiago Canyon College (SCC).
About four years ago, she took an internal inventory of her priorities and surmised that she would be more fulfilled professionally if she found a career that enabled her to be outdoors.
"I was in search of a job that would challenge me mentally and give me the ability to work outdoors," says Gruner. "The cement mixer truck driver job was very technical and required critical thinking, which I need. I was, after all, a biochemistry major in college!" She took the job to gain exposure to the construction industry-a niche that she felt held potential for a future career.
While driving the mixer truck, she learned about land surveying and thought it might hold the key to her future. "I began researching the profession. My search included exploring the need for licensing and certifications. That led me to learn about Santiago Canyon College (SCC), which has a regional reputation for excellence and offers a comprehensive program. The faculty is composed of working professionals employed by noteworthy private firms and public agencies. And, the campus was close to home!" she adds.
Now entering her second year at the college, Gruner is one of the program's most successful students and is now mentoring other women to enter the profession. Her professional promise is also catching the attention of industry professionals. Having just completed her first internship with a firm in Orange County-cited as one of the best mid-sized land surveying firms in the industry-she has been offered a paid position. She will sit for the Land Surveying In Training (LSIT) exam this spring.
"Melissa Gruner is the poster child for the type of student we wish to recruit to the program," says Tricia Evans, SCC dean of the division of business and career technical education. "Our goal is to expand enrollment to include 25 percent women. Land surveying provides a life-long, well-compensated career path. With the graying of the workforce, it is one of the professions that will be in need of trained, licensed professionals."
In addition to earning scholarships for professional merit from the campus and the California Land Surveyors Association (CLSA), Gruner is credited with establishing the only chartered community college student chapter in the state for the CLSA. Today, the chapter, which she began last year, is now the largest in the state. She is committed to bringing what she explains as "enrichment and professional development opportunities to students like me who are new to the profession as well as those attending SCC to sustain their licensing and certifications."
"I owe my success to SCC. The faculty and administrators have extended themselves to help me make the professional connections necessary to ensure I have strong job prospects. I can't say enough good things about the program and faculty," Gruner adds.
In this economic climate when thousands of talented mid-career professionals are out of work and looking for retraining, Gruner is grateful she found SCC and a new career. "I'm perfectly suited for land surveying because I love math and problem solving which are fundamental to field work," Gruner says. The new paid position, which grew out of her first internship opportunity, will lead to a mapping analyst job that will place her in the field working on a wide range of surveying projects.
"What I love about land surveying is the diversity of the job. Conducting a land surveying project in the field is like being on a treasure hunt. My job is to read someone else's treasure map, to identify the clues, and to find the treasure - whatever the outcome of the project might be such as identifying the boundaries of a property under development. The profession will provide me with the mental stimulation I need while addressing my need to be outdoors in a fresh-air environment," Gruner adds. "This is a dream come true!"