Congratulations Nathan!
Nathan Dennison
Nathan Dennison knew what he wanted to be when he grew up, he just wasn’t sure what he wanted to specialize in.
Thankfully, the universe seemed to know better than he did.
“I knew that I wanted to go into engineering when I was in high school and I looked into geomatics and just found that it was the right fit,” says Dennison. “So really, I just applied for that as one of my options going into university; it wasn’t even my first option.
“But because of the transferring into the University of Calgary, was actually placed into geomatics and ended up loving it. The industry, the flexibility of being outside; just land surveying as a whole I found was a very interesting profession.”
Geomatics takes all those mathematical and scientific formulas engineers know and then combines them with the beauty of the outdoors. Something about that aspect stuck with Dennison and he dove into his new field headfirst and has never looked back.
Dennison cruised through school and by the time he was 24 became one of the youngest people in provincial history to earn an Alberta Land Surveyor designation. Not too shabby,
considering in order to do that one must first complete a geomatics engineering degree and an articling period for a minimum of two years. In that time, Dennison had to put together three major project reports, as well as pass three written exams. After that is a three-hour final orally taken in the presence of other land surveyors, who drill the candidate with questions.
Dennison was savvy enough to secure employment while he was completing all of that and when he was finally given his certification he was able to walk into employment right here in Medicine Hat. While many people grow up in this area and wind up leaving, Dennison says it was a no-brainer for him to stay.
“I knew I had a job with a company that I really wanted to work for,” he says. “There really wasn’t a point for me to try and look for a job in another city. My friends were here, my family was here.
“And you know, I really enjoy the city. I like the size of it; Calgary’s too big for me. There is still a lot to do in Medicine Hat and you’re close to everything. The people are friendly and it’s a great city.”
Dennison, still just 28 years old,
28
is married to a local teacher and the two are putting some roots down here. He is now the assistant office manager with his company and plans to continue expanding his knowledge of an industry he has unbridled passion for.
“I guess in the future one of my goals would be to get my second (land surveyor’s) commission, in Saskatchewan, but really just continue to learn and improve in my profession.”
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