CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED The California Surveyor ... - CLSA

A Rewarding Career at Caltrans
By: Toni Scoralle, PLS
Iam very proud to be a Professional Land Surveyor with
Caltrans, Department of Transportation; the profession and
Caltrans have been very good to me. Like many people, my path
to becoming a Land Surveyor was circuitous. For starters, my
father was a Dentist in the Navy, so I grew up a military brat and
my family moved around a lot in my formative years. After having
lived in several states, we moved to California in the early
70’s. I never really thought about “what I wanted to be when I
grow up.” Particularly, not about being a surveyor, as I didn’t even
know about the profession.
I was lucky enough to graduate early
from high school, and headed off to Diablo
Valley College, a two-year college, to at least
start my general educational requirements.
Around this period of time I started working
as a dental assistant to pay the bills. I thought
I might like to go into the Dental Hygiene
field and even took some anatomy and physiology
classes. It was interesting, but the
thought of gazing into the mouths of others
seemed, well, not appealing. About the same
time I went to work as a Dental Assistant, I
applied to the California Department of
Transportation, Caltrans, but was told to not
expect a job anytime soon - that it could take
awhile. About a year later, Caltrans sent me
a job announcement for a maintenance worker
where the pay was 50% higher than I was
earning as a dental assistant. I thought, what
the heck, I interviewed and was offered the
job. That was December 1982.
Well, I guess I was a little naïve
because on my first day on the job as a
maintenance worker, I walked into a smoke
filled room with old cussing men. My first
reaction was, “what was I thinking?” As I
grew to know them and appreciate what
their job entailed, I began to respect them
and the work they performed. It was physically
demanding but I liked it. After a few
months as a maintenance worker, I was
asked to help out in the office because a
couple of the staff were going on vacation.
At the time, Caltrans was just getting into
computer technology and I picked it up
pretty quickly. When people saw that I had
a knack for computers they told me I should
go into the engineering field. So, I took their recommendation,
and applied for a job as a Junior Engineering Technician working
in the Surveying Department. I accepted the job even though
I did not have a clue what a surveyor did. I figured I would find
out soon enough.
I was shuttled out to a survey crew in Richmond where our
main job was construction staking for a new portion of highway
through that area. I LOVED IT! I finally knew what I wanted in a
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