Isaac Oakeson: Hey, what's going on, everybody. A good, good day to you. We're going to have a good one today. So we got Jed-Jason on with us today. How you doing, Jed-Jason?

Jed-Jason Ramos: I am doing great, Isaac. How are you doing?

Isaac Oakeson: Do you alwsay say it together? Jed-Jason, or just Jed?

Jed-Jason Ramos: Well, you know on my birth certificate, you know, I have a hyphenated first name. But, you know, to everyone else, I go by just Jed. Yeah, just Jed. You know, my mom wanted to be cool and gave all of her kids hyphenated first names. And so it's not only me. It's actually with my two older sisters as well. Yeah. And so, it's kinda different cause, you know, whenever you say your first name or say my first name, I always say Jed-Jason and they're like, which one do I say? Jed or Jason, or both, or I call you JJ?

Isaac Oakeson: I think it's cool. Jed-Jason. We're excited to have you on the show. I think you've got a unique background. We want to hear about it. So, as we start diving into this, you know, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, how you got into engineering you know, what attracted you to it? What subjects you liked? Things like that.

Jed-Jason Ramos: Yeah, definitely. So, growing up I remember, from as long as I can remember, right before I would go to bed as a little kid, my parents would actually quiz me on math flashcards before I went to bed. Yeah. They were like, "what are these multiplications right here?", "What's this addition?", "What's this subtraction?". So, like from a really young age, I really developed a love for math and growing up, that's something I really excelled in and same with the sciences too. But as well, my father, he actually is a civil engineer. He runs a design and surveing firm right now. And then as one of my older sisters got older, she actually ended up going to school for civil engineering as well. And so just kinda like, throughout my whole life, it's just been there. You know? It's always just been around me. And as I got closer to picking a major, when it came to college, it was pretty easy for me just cause like, it's kinda like all that I knew, you know? And it was just

Isaac Oakeson: Runs in the family.

Jed-Jason Ramos: Yeah, yeah. It kinda runs in the family. And so yeah, just kinda took that ball and ran with it.

Isaac Oakeson: So, were you like doing calculus at like five?

Jed-Jason Ramos: No, no. I was only doing differential equations, at that time. No. I graduated actually at a young age. Right when I turned 17 I graduated and kind of went to college right after that. And I had this really like deep plan. I was like, "I'm going to graduate in four years. I'm gonna really make it a goal to graduate at 21". That plan didn't really work out. I'll kind of tell a little bit more about that later. But, you know, school, it was just always something that I really liked and learning was always something I really liked even until today.

Isaac Oakeson: That's so cool. I think that's fascinating. And you know, I applaud your parents. I mean, how many people are teaching kids math that early? I don't think there's very many. So, most people have to discover later on that they enjoyed math or like me. I was like, I took hose high school, like, assessment tests and they were like, "Hey, you're pretty good at math". And I was like, "Oh. Yeah, I don't mind that".

Jed-Jason Ramos: That happens.

Isaac Oakeson: So, Where are you now? Why don't you tell people where you're at now? What do you do?

Jed-Jason Ramos: Yeah, so I grew up in Southern California. I was born in Hawaii. I went to school at Brigham Young University-Idaho. And shortly after that I got married to my beautiful wife Celina, and then actually just, what is it? Almost a month ago? And then, two weeks later, we moved to Texas and like the metroplex area of Dallas.

Isaac Oakeson: Awesome. Man, you've just been running.

Jed-Jason Ramos: Yeah, it's kinda, you know, rip the bandaid off. Graduated, got married, moved out. And, yeah. Now, with the Walsh GroupI'm a project engineer with them. I have been dealing a lot withdesign, build heavy civil type construction work out here. And so that's always just been something I've been interested in ever since I got exposed to the industry.

Isaac Oakeson: That's exciting. Man, I can just tell that you are very motivated and that's exciting. It's really refreshing to hear like how excited you are to jump into the industry. And I can just tell you got like a thirst for knowledge and that's, that's really cool too. So, that's all good stuff. Speaking of that, one of the things I like to ask is maybe share a quality tip for other engineers or those maybe thinking about joining the, you know, the engineering world or it could be career advice too. What's something you learned when you jumped into the career? But any tip, tool or any advice that you have for a rising engineer?

Jed-Jason Ramos: Yeah. Well, I guess I wouldn't really have too much advice for those that are already practicing. ButI would like to gear my answer towards those that are currently in school. Whether they're thinking about engineering or they're currently in the program, you know, about to graduate or, you know, maybe just a freshmen. So, I thinkI'd start gearing my answer first towards the freshmen or sophomores. I would say trying get internship, well before your third or fourth year in your university. The reason I kind of say that is because number one, it should show to employers that you're applying for, that you're really dedicated to the industry. You want to learn a lot more about it. And that's the great thing about internships is that it's all about learning, figuring out what you really, really, really want to do in your life. And I have a good friend. You know, I kinda wished Imodeled my internship after him. He's a first year college student and he's already got an internship and he's really geared towards getting one every single summer for the entire duration that he's in college. And so, I think the more that you can figure out if the industry is for you, at younger stage in your college career, I think the better chances that you have to figuring out what direction that you want to go for your career. And so, yeah.

Isaac Oakeson: You know, just to piggyback on that a little bit. I was in the same boat. I think I actually had worked at a call center and the reason why I had drugged that out so long is because they were paying for my schooling. So, these call centers, they pay well, and they also like pay your schooling. So, you end up trying to, you know, balance that a little bit. But I think you're right on. As soon as I knew at a certain point that I had to get into the industry to figure out, you know, what you like, what you don't like, what you want to do, what you want to specialize in, you know? Because there's so many different areas of civil engineering that you could dive into. You kind of have to figure out which one you like or prefer, beause that's kinda, you know, where you're going to be headed for a little bit. So, great advice.

Jed-Jason Ramos: Exactly. And I would say also to just like add one more bit of that I would say like, start with like your professors as far as like trying to get internship experience, because they are, you know, they're so involved with the community of people in the network that they have. And, sometimes, you know, we kind of forget that they're the ones that are, you know, in the heat of it. And that's exactly how one of my friends was able to get his internship. He just simply asked our professors like, "Hey, you know, I'm looking for an internship this summer. Do You have any info?" He's like, "Yeah, this company down the street". Later on, he was able to get one.

Isaac Oakeson: Yeah. I th I think that's great advice. I think a lot of people do forget, like your professor, who's dealing with research is in contact with lots of companies. They probably are like your best resource for networking anyway, and figuring out. And you have different professors that specialize in different things. So, if you like water resources, go ask that guy, you know. If it's structural, go ask that guy. And I think that's really smart. Good advice. How about this one? What's a lesson learned whether it was through a mistake made or something you've seen from a distance. What's the story behind that? What's something that you've learned with a mistake?

Jed-Jason Ramos: Oh yeah.

Isaac Oakeson: Or have you made any?

Jed-Jason Ramos: I've made plenty. I've made a plethora of mistakes. So, kinda like what I was saying before, when I first got into college, you know. I had this really set goal that I wanted to graduate by 21. So, my first two years, you know, I got basically all my 100- and 200-level classes at a way. You know, all the maths or all the a 100-level maths and 200-level maths and all the 100- and 200-level engineering classes. And it was towards the end of my sophomore year that I felt like my plans were going to change a little bit. And so I actually ended up, at that point at the end of my sophomore year, I went on a two year leave for some volunteer service for my church. And by the time that when I came back, -- You know, can you imagine not doing like college education level math and engineering for two years and then coming back? It was kinda hard. Especially for me, because right when I got back the major or our department, our engineering department was saying, "Hey, in order for you to basically move on to your 300 and 400 level classes, you have to take this exam and it's called the Competency Exam. Basically what it was, it tested you on basically your knowledge in statics, dynamics strength of materials. And so, you know, can you imagine like me coming back from this and being like, "Yeah, you need to do this or else you can't move on". And I was like, "What if I can't do this? I need to study like really hard". And so I was stressing out so much. You can ask anyone at that school during the time of the competency exam, that it was probably the most stressful part of their college careers because of how much weight was on it. And they said, if you couldn't pass this Competency Exam that they're changing the format next semester to another type ofexam called the Engineering Entrance Exam. And so, I was like, "Okay, I really need to do this. I really need to do this". And you could have taken the exam as many times as you want until you pass, but because it was just so hard for me to grasp on like two years of knowledge that I lost over two years, it was just so hard. And then after I spent so long, I couldn't get it. I couldn't get the Competency Exam in a way. And so, I was faced with now this new format of the, they called it the Engineering Entrance Exam. And to make things even harder for me, was that they said "You only have three chances to pass this exam. So, if you don't pass your first two tries, you're gonna have to go through a remedial process and what you're going to have to sit down with some professors".

Isaac Oakeson: Can you repeat?

Jed-Jason Ramos: Yeah. Exactly. Like just sit down with, like workshops and sit down with professors to, you know, go over material. And guess what? I failed those first two times. And I had to go through the remedial process. And then they said, "Okay, If you don't pass after the third time you're basically going to sit down with theI think at the time it was called Department Chair Engineering, Department Chair. So, someone really high up in the education department for engineering, and you're going to sit down with them and you're going to discuss alternative options for your education. And so, by the time I got to my third chance and I'm sitting there, I was shakingthroughout the entire exam, just trying to make sure that I was going to pass this because I had no alternative option. You know, civil engineering, that was what I wanted growing up.

Isaac Oakeson: No pressure.

Jed-Jason Ramos: Exactly.

Isaac Oakeson: Hey, this sounds worse than the FE or the PE. Wow.

Jed-Jason Ramos: Yeah, It was pretty bad. It was pretty bad for me, at least like trying to just grasp on to as much as I could remember and channeling everything that I had in me, and you know, with some divine intervention, I did pass the third try. And I was able to get through to take my 300- and 400-level classes. And something I learned from that experience was that I work really well under pressure. And ever since then, I just kinda like discovered this, new I guess, approach, to everything that I did. I was like, "I'm going to try and put as much pressure as I can on myself. And I know that I'm going to do way better than if I didn't". And that ended up helping me because throughoutmy internships, and so far in my full time career meeting deadlines and pressure and doing things on time and with quality, with a very small amount of leewayhas been a really huge asset for me as I've grown into the industry.

Isaac Oakeson: Oh man, that is such good advice. You know, it reminded me of something that's happened recently in my world over here. So I have twin daughters and my wife has been trying to teach them piano during COVID in the house. And then she was like, "Hey, let's do a small, like a recital, for them". And I could tell, you know, they were getting nervous. There's anxiety there. But we have been taught just over years that, when we have anxiety about something, a lot of people will make that it could absolutely crush you. You know what I mean? If you let that anxiety crush you, it will. But what we've been teaching our daughters and, you know, with ourselves, is that when we have anxiety, it's just kind of our mind, our body really telling us that it's go time. You know what I mean? And it's going to get really focused and honed in on the task at hand. And I love that you said when you're under pressure, when we have deadlines and stuff like that, I think it kind of puts us in that same kind of feeling where our bodies just get really focused on the task at hand, and we just knock it out. I mean, there's a reason why people put off writing English papers until the last second, you know what I mean? And things like that. So I think you've definitely discovered something there. And, you know, for you that works. That's an amazing experience that you had.

Jed-Jason Ramos: Yeah. Yeah. It's definitely helped.

Isaac Oakeson: Did that translate to passing the FE exam or what happened there? Just curious here.

Jed-Jason Ramos: I actually owe a lot to passing the FE exam to our civil engineering program. The engineering program in general, at our university. The reason I say that is because, basically when we start getting into engineering classes that are 200, 300 level, our professors, what they will do, is they will actually give us the section of the FE reference handbook pertaining to that subject during our tests. So, like whenever we were doing a test for Statics, you know, they would give us the Statics portion of the FE Reference Handbook, as well as, you know, like the units and conversion, the different nomenclature. And they'd give that portion to us. And then if it was Strength of Materials, you know, they'd give us that strength of materials, portion of the FE reference handbook, and give it to us then. And that was for every single class soils reinforced concrete design, anything. Any class that it was, they gave us FE reference handbook. And on top of that, in order to graduate, they madetaking the FE exam a requirement. And so this whole time throughout our college career, we're gearing up not only for, you know, graduating with a bachelor's degree, but passing or taking the FE exam, which I think is something that's really important to, I guess realize, when you're involved with this career path, because eventually that's the pinnacle, you know? Like, getting a professional engineering exam or a professional engineer license, that's the pinnacle of, you know, most civil engineers' careers. And so, making that a priority while we're in school is definitely a huge step for us.

Isaac Oakeson: And if you wait until your after school, it does get very difficult. Beause like you said, I mean, you took some time off, but when you come back, you forget stuff very quickly. So you've got to get back into the grind. And I love that you know, I don't know if every university does that. I'm sure they don't. But they're already gearing you towards using the FE handbook by giving you those, you know, those sections or those chapters as you're studying the subjects that you're working on. So, I think that's, that is a perfect tip.

Jed-Jason Ramos: And it was just great because at the time we're taking the FE exam, we're like, "Yeah, I know how this equation looks like". And you know, I think this tip is something that other university students could maybe bring to their department head, you know? Like, "Hey, what do you think of this idea of, you know, letting us use the FE reference handbook for some of our testsYou know, help us get ready for the FE Exam"

Isaac Oakeson: They should for sure do that. Yeah. If the university isn't drilling that in every student, especially with an accredited school, where it's required to pass to graduate they definitely should do that. It would give everybody a leg up. And the other problem is a lot of the equations in the handbook don't match what's in your textbook. So, a lot of people get thrown off with the different variables that are in the handbook. Beause you're just like, "that's dumb, you know? I've never seen this that way". It's like, "yeah, well at least you know how to solve the problem, right? So.

Jed-Jason Ramos: Exactly, exactly.

Isaac Oakeson: Cool. That's a great tip. Is there any other tips you want to hammer on the FE exam? Any books, courses, resources? It sounds like that would be it. Or is there any other tips that you have there?

Jed-Jason Ramos: No. Yeah. Something that I think is universal, whether that you're in school or you're out of school, is an effective, reliable accountability program, whether that be with you know, other students that are studying with you, you know, keep each other accountable. Or if you're just by yourself, like dial in on an accountability as far as, you know, what parts of each of the exam that you should be studying up until the exam. I think the method of accountability is such a powerful tool because if you think about it, that's exactly how we were able to progress throughout school, you know? Throughout our entire lives. That's basically how we progress. Someone or something is keeping us accountable towards our actions. And having friends or a schedule or something, just something to keep you accountable. As well as the FE practice exam. I think that was a huge help for us because -- I think that's available through nces.org. That's where we got it. And so, honestly, if you can replicate as well as you can, the testing environment, you know, going into a locked room and just having the book or the exam, a practice exam, and, you know, some scratch paper and you just crank it out for, I think it's like six hours, right? And if you can just crank it out and making sure that you stick to that three minute-a-question time limit. I think I've heard plenty of times before, and you know, everyone talks about that time management skill, and when I was taking the exam, how I'd always make sure that I had -- I was using my watch and I was like, "All right, I'm this many questions in, if I multiply this by three, I should be this many minutes". You know, I was constantly thinking how fast I was working throughout the exam. And if you get stuck, honestly, just keep going to the next question. And it's just -- Yeah, those are just some universal tips for the exam.

Isaac Oakeson: Yeah. Those are great tips. I always love asking people that, whether you've taken the FE or eventually you'll take the PE too, butyou know, because everybody wants to hear from other people about their experience, what it was like for them, things of that nature. So, I love hearing what other people, other engineers say about that. So thanks for sharing that. Let's dive into something maybe you've worked on. Is there a recent idea or project that you've maybe worked on or you were involved with that might help others know a little bit more about you?

Jed-Jason Ramos: Yeah. So, I guess I've found a, I guess a passion or more so an interest, in the design build aspect of constructionor the design build deliverywhen it comes to construction. The reason why is because getting to work with all these different design companies and -- Oh, actually for those that are, I guess not familiar with the design build delivery method, it's basically, you know, instead of the standard bid build, or, you know, heavy bidin the beginning where, you know, the engineer designs everything and the contractor build it, it's more of like a joint team where the design and the building is happening all at once. And so, I personally like that a lot because it gives me a chance to understand exactly the decisions that are made out in the field and how they compliment each other, with the decisions that are made in design and having a say and everything as well. And so it's a very integral process throughout the entire duration of the project. And I think it's just -- it's really interesting for me, so far. Andyeah, it's just a great way to understand all the different aspects of a project.

Isaac Oakeson: No, that's fantastic. And I think as you get even more and more experience, I bet if I asked you that question again, you'd come back with a really cool answer. And you know, going all the way back to mistakes we've made, you know there'll be mistakes, you know, all throughout your engineering career and you'll learn from them and you'll, you know, you'll develop a knowledge of what to do and what not to do and get a better feel for the whole whole process. So those are all things that are going to come your way as well. So look forward to that.

Jed-Jason Ramos: I'm expecting it to come sometime soon. So.

Isaac Oakeson: All right, well, I'm going to dive into some quick questions with you. You can -- You know, these can be short, they could be long, but just kind of a quick question around. What's been the best advice you've ever received or just good advice in general?

Jed-Jason Ramos: I think the best advice I've ever received, I think it was back in -- I might have discovered this in my freshman or sophomore year of college. There is this guy by the name of Simon Sinek and he talks about basically how companies and large businessesoperate within their respective industries. And he kind ofdescribed it as three circles. We have one inner circle and in that inner circle is the "Why". And then there's a circle that surrounds that and that's labeled with "How" and the circle that encompasses that all is the "What". And what he described was that a lot of companies like to work from the outside in starting with "What is it that we should do?" You know? What's our product to try get the people to want. But what he describes is that we should actually be starting from the inside and working outwards, meaning that we should be starting with the "why", the purpose. And once we start figuring out what the purpose is behind everything that we do, or why we do it, it yields a much more quality product that is geared towards who we're trying to make it for. And that I think translates directly into a number one learning curriculum throughout school, and especially to the real world experience where, you know, you're working on a project and it's like, "All right, what is the purpose of this project? What are we really trying to do for our community and for those that are looking for our service?" Like, "Why are we doing what we do?" And then we focus on "How should we do that?". And so, with that in mind, working from the inside out, it's kind of how I've been able to approach every single task that I'm ever given in my life. No matter how big or how small it is, I always try and start with the why, the purpose.

Isaac Oakeson: I think I remember seeing thatWe'll leave a link in the show's descriptions. But yeah, I think I've seen that. It wasn't that a YouTube video he kind of goes over some of that too? Yeah. Discovering your why I think puts a lot of things into focus on projects as to how they align with what's going on with the company goals and community. I think that's great advice. Good advice. All right. What is a personal habit that contributes to your success as an engineer or person?

Jed-Jason Ramos: Yeah, so just a tiny story. I'll try to keep it short. It was my first internship and I was still trying to figure out Excel. And everyone that's listening to this is probably gonna laugh at me, but like, you know, in the Excel columns we have, A, B, C, D E, right? And I was working on a schedule and, you know, it was A B C E I'm, "Where's D"

Isaac Oakeson: Maybe it's broken.

Jed-Jason Ramos: I'm like clicking. I'm like, "Where's D". I'm like clicking on C and clicking on E I'm like, "Where is it?" And so, you know, I remember at the beginning of my internship, you know, my boss saying, "make sure you ask questions, you know, ask a lot of questions". And so I was like, "Hey. I have a question. How can I show D?" And then my boss looks at me and he's like, "ome on, Jed. You gotta figure things out before you ask questions" And so like that moment, you know, no matter how dumb I felt, I still look back at that and approach every challenge that I have, like before I ask a question, you know, like how much of this can I really figure out? How much of my resources can I exhaust before I am faced with asking for help? And I think it's really a good skill for me that I've been able to attend because it's helped me todevelop self-sufficient learning where I'm not necessarily like -- You know, using others as a crutch, you know, for my learning. I'm making it more of a deep learning process rather than a superficial learning. So, yeah. Yeah.

Isaac Oakeson: I got people calling me here. I'm going to turn this off.

Jed-Jason Ramos: So popular Isaac.

Isaac Oakeson: It's probably my wife.

Jed-Jason Ramos: Number one fan.

Isaac Oakeson: WellI love that advice. Even in earlier podcast episodes, maybe we can find those, but I've done one with my brother Mark, where he outlines a lot of times when he's worked with other engineers and when they come up to him with questions, he really appreciates when they've put in the work before they come up and ask him what the heck they should be doing. You know, if you do your homework and your research, and try to even come up with a few solutions yourself, like, "Hey, we could do this, or this, or this",that helps. And I think it helps you to, like you said, deep learning and really exhaust your resources. I love that. Okay. Well, how about this? What's someone you look up to and why do you look up to?

Jed-Jason Ramos: I look up to two people, actually. And those two people are my mom and my dad. And I say thatwithout hesitation becausethey didn't grow up here in America. They're actually from the Philippines. And you know, I was -- As I grew up, you know, I never, I never really realized how much they really did for me until actually recently when I just got married, you know? I was the last one to get married. In my family I'm the last, last child left. And you know, looking back, I can see exactly what they did in order to give us everything that we needed. They literally gave their lives in order to give us our lives. And I think it's a statue in my memory, forever, of who they are as parents and why they did what they did was to make sure that we had a life here in America. A life that they didn't have when they grew up. And I think that's -- I think that's a universal, you know, approach to humanity, you know? Giving others what we don't have so that they may be able to have a better future. And I think that's great. I think it's just a great example from them as parents.

Isaac Oakeson: Yeah. I mean, that probably takes a lot to do that and kind of start over, I imagine for them. But, I mean, the opportunities that you have a death here, I think are great. It's a great country and, despite what's going on right now, it's still the best place, you know, for opportunities and growth and it's just an amazing place. So, wow. That's great. Your parents must be awesome. How many siblings are there? You said.

Jed-Jason Ramos: There's just three of us. I have two older sisters and then there's me.

Isaac Oakeson: Okay. And the engineering falls in for all of them or just the sister nd you?

Jed-Jason Ramos: I guess the sciences really kind of fell in within the entire family. Because my other older sister, she studiedkinesiology, exercise science. And so she did well with that career path as well.

Isaac Oakeson: You guys are all smart. That's great. Your parents did something right. That's awesome. Well, good deal, man. What's a nice resource, I guess, for, I guess you could recommend for the engineering community or our community here at CEA? It could be dealing with leadership, education, engineering, something that's fun. What's something that you've come across that you're like, "you know, that was, that was a good book. I can share that"?, you know?

Jed-Jason Ramos: Definitely. I actually have the book right here with me and it's called The Ted Talks Book and it's written by the guy that is the head of Ted. And the reason why I like this book so much is because, yeah it says it's an official guide to public speaking, but I think it's really more than that. If anything, it gives you ways to connect with people. You know, it's not just about, you know, how can I speakduring a presentation, you know? It's something that, you know, obviously civil engineers really need to get used to is public presentations and communication, but it's a much more deeper level as far as connecting with the individuals that you work with and it's all about spreading an idea to others and how you could also receive other people's ideas as well. And so, I think it's a very all-encompassing book that can be applied to just about everything in your life, whether it be, you know, within your family or within your professional development.

Isaac Oakeson: Wow. That's awesome. And does that book, I never checked that one out, but t's just a bunch of Ted Talks or is it a book he like wrote that talks about the Ted Talks? How does that --

Jed-Jason Ramos: Yeah, it's a book that he wrote that helps you understand, first of all, like why is it that public speaking is like, obviously the most feared thing above everyone's minds right now? Like why is it that --

Isaac Oakeson: Higher than dying? I remember taking public speaking and it's like, "Great, higher than dying".

Jed-Jason Ramos: Higher than higher then heights, higher than tarantulas. It's just like, it's amazing how -- And he talks about how you can overcome that and use your speaking to influence and inspire others. And he gives some examples and he gives, not necessarily a formula, but he gives you almost kind of like what Simon Sinek does, like the why and the how and the production out of it.

Isaac Oakeson: You know, just to go along with that, something I've learned in my own studies and listening and things of that nature, I thought this was really interesting, but I heard that to become a better public speaker and to speak out loud and to share your thoughts, it's very helpful, I've heard, to actually read a book out loud. Like, if you have children read to them out loud, and then you hear it, you know, you're hearing what you're saying, you hear your voice and things of that nature. I just thought that was a real cool real-world tip when I heard that. That if you can read a book out loud, you become a better speaker because you can, you know, you're putting words together, you're hearing yourself and you're getting into the habit of talking out loud.

Jed-Jason Ramos: Yeah. That's grat, actually. I'm not sure if you've heard of the rubber duck method. It's basically like -- It happens a lot. II thinkcoders use it a lot and what it is it's like, they literally have like a rubber duck on their desk and whenever they get stuck with a problem, they'll like, talk it out. They'll literally like talk out the entire problem to this rubber duck. And, for some reason, I don't know what it is with like psychologically, there's something about like speaking out loud that actually also helps you tosolve problems a little bit easier than if you were to try and keep it inside your own head.

Isaac Oakeson: That's very true.

Jed-Jason Ramos: I use that throughout my entire life too.

Isaac Oakeson: I'll do that. My cubicle at work sometimes when people are like "you talking to yourself?". "Yeah. Leave me alone. That's cool. I'm glad I'm not, you know, that's an okay thing to do. It's an actual method. That's good. Yeah. I'll have to check that one out. This last one is just kind of a fun question, but if you had all the resources in the world or engineering knowledge in the world, what's something you'd like to be a part of?

Jed-Jason Ramos: So I have a really big passion for transportation engineering, and I was kind of like thinking about how much Sci-fi really pushes technology bounds within the real world. And, if you kind of think about it, you know, teleportation is kind of like transportation. And so like, you know, can not fall in the world of transportation engineering. Sure.

Isaac Oakeson: Make it happen.

Jed-Jason Ramos: Exactly. So honestly, like if all the resources and all the power in the world, I think, you know, transportation or teleportation, rather, would be such a cool to bring to life. So, yeah.

Isaac Oakeson: Well, that's very cool. Well we'll let you work on that and start reading some more and figure out how to do that. I won't be your first --

Jed-Jason Ramos: No. I think I'll leave that to someone else I'm not a fan of. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding.

Isaac Oakeson: Well, I appreciate you coming onto the show. I think this has been really fun. You've shared a lot of great advice with people. I guess as we conclude, is there any last piece of guidance you want to share with people and what's also the best way for those in the community that might want to connect with you if they had questions about something?

Jed-Jason Ramos: Definitely. I think last piece of guidance I would say is to never think that you're done learning. I definitely had that mindset when I was about to graduate college. I remember talking with my buddies like, "All right, man, like we're gonna have to graduate. You know, no more homework, you know, once we come home from work, you just get to chill when we get home, no more homework". And then, you know, boy was I wrong when I found out I had to start studying for the PE exam, as soon as I got back to work,

Isaac Oakeson: Never ends

Jed-Jason Ramos: Just knowing that it just never ends, you know? Never think that learning stops and it's just gonna grow with you throughout your, of course. And for me, as a way to contact meI'm on LinkedIn. I'm constantly checking LinkedIn. I'm doing this digital minimalist thing where I've blocked out other forms of social media. And so all I really do now is just browse LinkedIn. Yeah. And so, I'm on LinkedIn all the time. You can email me at [email protected] as well. I'm always looking out for anyone that'shas questions for me. So yeah.

Isaac Oakeson: I appreciate that. Like I said, this has been fantastic for me. I think you've shared a lot of great tips with people out there. I love hearing people's stories and how they got into the civil engineering, how they passed their exams or what struggles they went through, because we can all relate with these things. And I just think it's good for everyone to hear and know that we can overcome challenges. You've overcome challenges, you know? We can do hard things. So that's great, man. I appreciate you coming on the show. And we'll catch up next time.

Jed-Jason Ramos: Awesome. Thanks Isaac.

Isaac Oakeson: All right. See you later.