TSPS MAY 2025 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 18
FEATURED MEMBER
DREW BLESSING
RPLS, Chapter 18 West Central Texas
HOW/WHY DID YOU GET INTO SURVEYING?
Like a lot of other surveyors, I “accidentally” got into surveying
when I was offered a job from Ken Martin, P.E., R.P.L.S., who
is a partner in an engineering 昀椀rm, Jacob and Martin, Ltd. He
said, “Are you good at math and do you like being outside?” That
sounded like me, so I told him that I would come to work for
him, but would only be there temporarily until I found something that was a better 昀椀t. That was in 2006, and I have been in
surveying most of the time since then. I am so grateful that he
took a chance on me. I have truly found my calling in surveying. I
enjoy the variety of the different aspects of surveying, the history,
research, courthouses, 昀椀eld work, calculations, reconstruction,
boundary determinations, and mapping.
WHY DID YOU JOIN TSPS?
I was not very involved in TSPS until I joined Enprotec/Hibbs
and Todd, Inc. in 2018. My mentors, George Forbis-Stokes,
R.P.L.S and Riley Grif昀椀th, R.P.L.S. simply said, “You should join us
at Strategic Planning and see what the TSPS is like.” The people
I met were encouraging and genuinely interested in advancing
the surveying profession. I was all in! I wanted to be the one encouraging people to join and helping them at every stage of their
journey in surveying.
WHAT DO YOU GAIN OR HOPE TO GAIN FROM TSPS?
TSPS has provided connections that I may not have had access
to otherwise. It’s great to need to “phone a friend” when you are
working in an area that you’re not as familiar with and be able
to say, “I think I met you at the
TSPS event.” Those connections are invaluable.
I hope to give back to
TSPS by being a supporter, encourager,
and sometimes motivator for those at
different stages of
their professional
journey in survey-
16 THE TEXAS SURVEYOR May 2025
FAVORITES
Color: Blue
Musician: Willie Nelson and Charlie Crockett
Food: Authentic Mexican food
Animal: Cow
Hobby: Hanging out with family and friends
ing. I think it’s incredible that there is something available at all
the different levels, including student memberships, CST tests
and prep, SIT, RPLS, and LSLS. I appreciate all the people who
dedicated their time to pouring back into the people who are
seeking to improve their skills, certi昀椀cations, and licenses. The
people who have done that for years are the people I look up to
and desire to be.
AFTER WE WORKED TO DIG AROUND IT SO THAT
WE COULD GET IT OUT, WE FOUND THE CALLED
FOR IRON PIPE UNDERNEATH IT AND SHOT IT.
THE THRILL OF FINDING ORIGINAL MONUMENTS
NEVER GETS OLD AND I ENJOY IT EVERY TIME I
GET TO BE OUT IN THE FIELD.
WHAT IS YOUR MOST MEMORABLE SURVEYING MOMENT?
Like most surveyors when we sit around and start telling “war
stories”, I love a recovering an old monument story. We were
working on the boundary for a property in an area north of
Abilene that is notorious for having “boundary dif昀椀culties”. The
deed called for an iron pipe under a stone in the county road.
As you might expect, this was in the heat of the summer. We
buzzed the road and, much to our dismay, heard that all to familiar sound that meant something was there, so we started digging
through the caliche. At about a foot down, we found a not old
enough 1/2” iron rod and thought we were done. But so that we
didn’t get chewed out back at the of昀椀ce, we buzzed again. Much
to our dismay again, we heard a second buzz…so we kept digging. At about two feet, we hit a smooth surface. That ended up
being the top of a domed rock. After we worked to dig around it
so that we could get it out, we found the called for iron pipe underneath it and shot it. The thrill of 昀椀nding original monuments
never gets old and I enjoy it every time I get to be out in the 昀椀eld.
