Speaker 1 (00:00):

Isaac (00:09): Hey, what's going on everybody? Isaac here with Civil Engineering Academy. Excited to be with you on another podcast episode. Today I bring a special guest. She was actually a student of our review course, which you can find civil pe review course.com to help her on her journey to, to pass her PE exam. Ended up taking water resources. Her name is Kim Trong, and she actually started her schooling by going to Boston University, later went to UCLA to get her master's, has been working as a consultant doing all kinds of fun things in the environmental world. But I wanted to hear her journey because it's kind of unique in that she actually was out with her husband stationed in Okinawa and has been working as a consultant working with the United States Air Force, but has found this time to sneak in taking the PE exam and wanted to hear her experience on doing that.

Isaac (00:55): So if you're taking your PE exam anytime, or if you want to get some inspiration about your prep in passing either the water resources or any really any one of the depth exams that you choose Kim definitely has some insights and shares a lot of knowledge with those that are listening. So excited about this one. I'm excited that she came on and shared her journey with us, and I think you will enjoy this as well. So, without further ado, I'll go ahead and shut up and let's get to my interview with Kim coming up right after this. Alright, Kim, we're rocking and rolling. Thanks for joining me today on the Civil Engineering Academy podcast. I appreciate you doing this with me.

Kim (01:31): Yeah, of course. It's kind of nice to put a face to the disfigured voice that I heard on every video.

Isaac (01:38): Telling you to get your, your favorite beverage and

Kim (01:42): Yes. In get your favorite beverage. Yeah,

Isaac (01:45): . Yeah. You, you ran through the course. So Kim, I appreciate you doing that and and your recent, relatively recent passer of the PE exam. And so we wanted to bring you on and kind of congratulate you and talk about, I guess, what you went through. And so I always start these out though, just kind of getting your own background information. I'd love to know maybe what you do now and maybe how you found yourself into this world of civil engineering.

Kim (02:15): Yeah, so right now I'm in between jobs. My journey on this pe has been kind of extended as you know, 'cause we've now been talking for probably two years. I actually have, I consider myself a late bloomer in terms of engineering. I started my undergrad in environmental science and I didn't realize I wanted to be an engineer after, until after I graduated. So I went to grad school UCLA for Civil and Environmental Engineering. And then right outta school I became a consultant and I kind of got wrapped up in that consultant world and was kind of just chugging along and doing my job. And I didn't really have a ton of time to study for the PE and well the FE at the time, I guess. And by the time that I was ready to take the FEAI was actually living in Okinawa with Japan with my husband. And so I was a civil engineer at the Air Force base there, and they were really, you know, generous with giving me time to study at work. So that was really nice. And so now I'm in between jobs. I just applied for my PE license in Virginia and that was, I get that. I'll probably hop onto a, I think I'll get back into consulting. I kind of enjoyed that.

Isaac (03:45): Do you like the flexibility of it? Is that kinda what you like there or

Kim (03:50): The flexibility? I liked the, I mean it's very, it's, it is, it can be fast paced and I kind of liked that. I'm like really enjoy having projects and sort of having them end. I think that's how I, how I realized when I was in my master's program that I didn't wanna get a PhD and I was like, no, I need, I need a little bit more certainty and structure and knowing things that will end. And I like just that makes sense. In a consulting firm, I think I just had a lot of ability to touch a lot of different kinds of projects. And so I like that.

Isaac (04:27): That's awesome. Yeah, a lot of people kinda trying are trying to figure that out. Do they like consulting? Do they wanna work for a big consulting firm, a small consulting firm, government, or all those kind of decisions. So I'm glad you've, you've have figured that out. That's awesome. So let's I guess let's dive a little bit into your, your exam experience. So you, you took your FE and how long of a weight did you have there before you took your pe?

Kim (04:59): After I took the fe I was like riding high. I was like, that was awesome. Like, I can definitely do this. And I had already gotten into that studying mindset and I was like, let's just keep this ball rolling. So right after I passed the fe I registered for the PE like right away. And I gave myself, I can't remember like three or four months and like between the FE and the PE to give myself time to study. But sort of like life got in the way and I had to put that on hold. And so that was in 2022. And so then I finally took it to PE just at the end of July of this year. And yeah, that's, it was a long time coming was

Isaac (05:48): And which exam, which depth exam did you end up going with?

Kim (05:53): Water resources. That's kind of my job. And I just, I don't know.

Isaac (05:59): Yeah, that makes sense. So could you describe a little bit about, you initially considered doing a self-study and did you do self-study before you looked elsewhere for help? Or what was that thought process?

Kim (06:14): Yeah, so I did self-study for the se and that's why I thought that I would also do self-study for the pe

Kim (06:25): But as I started studying for the PE I was, this was also before the format change in April of this year. So I was studying for the old PE and because I didn't start off as an engineering undergrad, I felt like there were a lot of holes in my just general engineering knowledge. And so once I got into it, I was like, oh, I'm like kind of getting overwhelmed. I was kind of anxious, so I was like, I don't really know how, where to start. So I was like, I know that I'm really good with structure and I'm really good with schedules and that's a really good way for me to be disciplined and, you know, stay on it. So I was like, okay, I think I need some help.

Isaac (07:10): Gotcha. And so did you do a bunch of research on where to go for help? I guess how did you discover Civil Engineering Academy?

Kim (07:21): Well I think it helps that you have civil engineering in the name, but I kind of just Googled. I just googled and, and kind of read through the different options and the different programs and, 'cause at the time I was living in Japan, I knew I couldn't do a live study. And I wanted something that wasn't just videos because there's, there's some things that are just videos and problems and that's it. But I think what I really liked about Civil Engineering Academy and what what kind of sold me was knowing that I could talk to a real person at any time and that they would answer my questions and I could just ask all the questions that I wanted and that they would be there and that was amazing and I could see all the other students' questions and kind of learn from them too. And so I think that that's something that really drew me to it so I could do it on my own in a different time zone and still talk to a person.

Isaac (08:16): That's great. So I, I think at least I like to think that the, one of the biggest reasons why people enjoy our course is the support that we provide. So it sounds like that was a, a, a feature that you really enjoyed. I know we give people access to a private community. If you have questions via email, we'll be there to answer them quickly. So I'm glad that you experienced that. Was there any other features of the course that you liked?

Kim (08:45): Definitely the videos and the practice problems. And I think just the idea of self to videos with help is that I could see exactly how long every module was gonna be and so it helped me kind of parse out my time.

Isaac (09:04): That makes sense. You know, every PE exam is a challenge no matter which one you take. Was there, I'm just curious, but was there any surprises when you went and took your water resources exam that you felt like can maybe came outta nowhere or you were surprised by

Kim (09:24): Yeah, I guess. I mean, I was surprised. So I think one of the biggest sections on the new water resources is, I think it's called Project planning. That's the name of the section. And, you know, I was pretty okay with it and I was, you know, it's quantity takeoff and blah, blah, blah. Mm-Hmm . I think the way that that presented itself, those questions presented itself kind of surprised me. There was a lot, I mean, I, I don't know if I was just, you know, getting out of there and just remembering all of the things that I did poorly, which I think everybody does after every exam, but there were a lot of like vertical and horizontal questions. Sorry, vertical and horizontal

Isaac (10:07): Curve

Kim (10:08): Yeah. Curve questions. Yeah, there were, there were a few of those and I was like, well, I guess that's sort of important to water resource. I get it. And then like, the object planning, I don't know, one of them was like, you know, there's this distance in this truck and they have to move this much, and like, what's the optimum amount of trucks to like, demise your load moving? And I was like, okay, well, well, I mean, it wasn't hard. I think I just wasn't familiar with like, I guess I, I don't know. That was surprising to me.

Isaac (10:37): I gotcha. Yeah, there's always something on these exams where you feel like that came outta nowhere. When you took the exam, did you feel like there was a lot of theory questions thrown at you? Was that a surprise?

Kim (10:52): It was not a surprise. I kind of expected it since they were going into like a more concentrated version of the pe for the different disciplines, I was like, okay, well if they're gonna test what you really know, you know, it's not just gonna be calculations, they're really gonna test a lot of theory. And so I, I was prepared for it and I thought that was okay.

Isaac (11:15): Okay. Did you feel like our course helped you organize or streamline your preparation in any way?

Kim (11:23): Oh yeah, definitely. Like I said, like knowing that the modules, how long they were and you know, what were in them. But since I saw, since I did do my PE before the new format came out, I used all of your videos and what I did was I looked at the new format and kind of listed all the different sections from like most number of questions, the least number of questions. And then I kind of took your videos and modules and kind of like pieced them together and kind of made my own little study thing. So I still had all of the material mostly had all of the material that I needed. I just had to put them in a different order at whatever I didn't have. I kind of supplemented it with the reference manual.

Isaac (12:15): That makes sense, because when you took it, we hadn't updated the course yet and then we updated the course to match the new specs and we're still updating courses. That

Kim (12:24): That was the day before I was gonna take my exam and I was like, do I mess up my head and like, look at this. Or like, I was already like locked in. I had a day in between finishing studying and like taking the exam. Like this is my downtime. As tempting as it is, I'm not gonna look at the new material and mess myself up psychologically

Isaac (12:42): . That makes sense. That was probably a good move you ended up passing, so, yeah. What advice would you give to someone about taking practice exams? Do you feel like that was a key to preparation or how, how did you take practice exams?

Kim (12:57): Yeah definitely taking practice exams is a must do. A lot of people tell you to, you know, replicate your exam conditions. I think sitting and doing it all the way through and sort of figuring your timing is really important. But the way that I also like to do the practice exams is that I would go through and do them all. And if I didn't know how to do it, I would check myself with the answer and I would star those questions and those types of questions. So at the end of the exam I was like, okay, I really needed to work on horizontal and vertical curves. And so I would put that down and I would just go back to the reference spaniel or go back to the practice videos and find all of those questions and then do those. And then after I reviewed all of the topics I wasn't as keen on, I would try and do it again. And because by I don't, I have like really, I dunno, like limited short touch term memory. So if I do the exam again, like I'm not remembering every single thing. So I do it again and make sure that it feels natural to me. Like I know exactly where to look for the, for the answer or the reference manual.

Isaac (14:09): That's awesome. Do you feel like the cb, so in the course we provide a CBT exam, what was that experience like? Did you enjoy that? Did you feel like that helped you in any way? Yeah.

Kim (14:21): Yeah, I think I it did. It's, it's definitely helpful to just kind of get the mechanics of being on a screen and like having the paper next to you and having the screen and then having the split screen with the with the reference references. So yeah, I thought it was, I thought it was nice.

Isaac (14:40): Well, yeah, it, we, we definitely tried to prep you, I guess, well in advance of the real exam, we hope to give you exposure to something that looks very similar to the real deal. So that's it's good to hear your own take on that. I guess what, what advice or tips would you give someone that's taking the water resources specifically that you felt like, Hey, if I was gonna tell somebody and they're taking this exam, these are some of the tips I'd give them?

Kim (15:11): That's a good question. I think I'm assuming if you're taking the water resources exam, your background is, your background is in water resources. And I guess, I don't know, I had already learned most of these things in grad school. And so it's kind of like, don't overthink it and, you know, just, just do it and be confident that you can do it and there's, that's all you really can do. I don't, that's not water resources specific. I think that's just testing in general.

Isaac (15:47): Yeah. were you excited when the specs changed to be water resources?

Kim (15:54): Absolutely. A hundred percent. I was like, this is the like most serendipitous thing ever because if I had taken it in 2022 when I was in Japan, like I think that would've been much, I think it would've been much more unnerving for me. And so once I heard that it was gonna be water resource specific, I was like, oh, I got this. Like, I, like, I love water resources. I went to grad school for it. I like have taken like a hydrology, like all of those things. I was like, this is so much easier because now I don't have to learn like bits of like structural and electrical, which I like never did. And I'm sure a lot of the people back in the old PE they were like, this is the hardest part because I have to learn everything I may or may not have learned before.

Isaac (16:37): Yeah, that's true. So in your own timeline, you didn't take the exam in Japan, right? Or did you

Kim (16:46): I took the SE in Japan and then I a PE in Washington DC.

Isaac (16:51): Wow, that's awesome. And was the process the same taking the effing in Japan as, did you find you had to find a testing center and all that jazz?

Kim (17:03): Yeah, I so for military families and military spouse spouses, they have like a reasonable accommodations. And so there's a testing center. There's only I think two testing centers in Japan. One in Osaka and one in Tokyo. And so you just kind of the same thing. They just have fewer offerings and so you have to like really time it in. Because I lived in Okinawa on an island, I had to like really plan ahead of time. But for the most part it was the same. The testing of the Pearson Te Pearson Testing Center is the one I went to. It was, it was very, very similar. Oddly similar.

Isaac (17:41): Hmm. So when you were there and you're preparing for the P exam it sounds like you're really good, good at, at mapping out a schedule that would work for your study. What advice would you give to someone about building a schedule and kinda sticking to it?

Kim (18:02): Yeah, that's also a really good question. I'm sure a lot of people struggle with that. I think, I think the hardest thing, so at the time I was working when I was beginning to study for the pe I think the biggest challenge was coming home after work and like just mustering up the energy and the motivation to continue working. And you know, you work all day, you come home, you study, you eat, and then the weekend comes and all of your friends are going out to do things and it's just really hard. So, I don't know, keep your eye on the prize and just know that it's temporary. You know, it's, it's not gonna last forever. Like all of the things you're missing out on, it's not gonna be worth like your anxiety or your, you know, the extra effort you're gonna have to put in if you fail.

Kim (18:47): So that's number one. Number two, I, because I like to be prepared, I gave myself a little bit of a buffer time. So whatever, like I thought that I needed, I gave myself a little bit more time. In terms of like when I'm gonna take the pe. So if I thought I was gonna take three months, I gave myself a fourth month just in case. So I wasn't stressed out at the end. And I think that served me really well because by the time I was ready, i, I felt ready. And in terms of a schedule, just make it around your own schedule of what you have to do. I prioritize the modules and the topics from like most prevalent to least prevalent in the exam. I would suggest doing that too. I don't, I forget if your modules are set up that way, but kind of like that.

Isaac (19:43): Yeah. Currently we just kind of follow the specifications, so mm-hmm. You know people want that stuff to follow the spec so we, we follow the spec and but yeah, I mean obviously there's more problems related to a specific subject, so it probably should give more weight and attention to that particular subject. That definitely makes sense.

Kim (20:05): Yeah, that's, that's how I did it. I was like, oh, what was it at the end? I don't know, something was like a very few questions. So I was like, okay, well I'll just spend the least amount of time on that because the chances that's it's gonna come up are much lower than, I dunno, close conduits or something.

Isaac (20:20): . Exactly. Well take me through the day you got your results. What was that like?

Kim (20:28): Wow. I really didn't wanna check. So they tell you like between seven and 10 days and my husband and I are very, very different. And so like he said, like, so he is a PE too. He got his PE in mechanical like very soon after he graduated from undergrad. And so he was like, I would check the very next day if I were you. Like, even if they told me seven days, I would check right away and I'm the complete opposite. I was like, as long as I don't know the answer, I haven't technically failed yet . And so I was kind of like in that boat. And so he was like, okay, you know, like we're just going in an easy, like a calming space. And we did it and I checked and I didn't even see the word pass.

Kim (21:12): I just saw the green, if you know what I'm talking about. Like you, I just saw the green and that's all I needed to know. And I freaked out. I was so happy. I was so relieved because I was like, I could not do this again. And I was like, I was, I don't know, but I, I felt great and it felt really validating. 'cause Like I said, I was kind of a light bloomer for engineering and without that undergraduate I always feel like I needed some kind of validation. And so it was kind of nice to have it.

Isaac (21:39): Hmm. Yeah. That's awesome. I love hearing those stories of opening that well back when I took it, they used to mail you the results and so if you took it you know, you could, you could potentially get it just before Christmas and Oh gosh, that's horrible. Could be horrible Christmas.

Kim (21:57): I would definitely be the person who could wait until after Christmas and after New Year's that would be me,

Isaac (22:02): . You did the April exam, not the October, but now that's all changed up. So . Yeah. Well that's awesome. I, I applaud you for passing. I think that's super exciting and I'm excited about your future. Is there any, I guess, final piece of advice you would give to somebody taking this particular exam?

Kim (22:26): I don't know if I have advice for those particular exam.

Isaac (22:31): What about if you're a repeat taker? What's your mindset on that if you do have to repeat it?

Kim (22:38): That's a good question. 'cause I was also mentally preparing to to be a repeat taker. I think, I think what really brought me a lot of comfort when I felt like, you know, I might need to retake it, was it's really not that big of a deal. I think some people, they take it, they take it a few times and, and that's okay. And, and I think the less pressure you feel, the, I think better you'll perform overall and just, you know, just think of it just as another thing

Isaac (23:09): That definitely makes sense to do. Another question I often get, and I'm curious, your opinion is what if somebody wants to switch their exam, what would you say to that?

Kim (23:19): I saw your email on that. I saw your email, I saw that you were doing a talk and you not, I never really thought about it. I never, I guess I just never considered it because my specialty is water resources engineering. And then I also saw in your email that water Resources engineering is like one of the higher passing ones. And a lot of people consider switching to that, I think, I don't think it'll serve you in the long run if I've had to guess. I mean, if you are, if you want to have a PE in a certain discipline, I think it might, I don't know, it might be better to, it might be better to stick with it. But I don't know. Oh, what, what was your idea? I did actually open your email on actually video .

Isaac (24:11): Yeah, we we kinda hit on that. We record these videos called Quick Tip videos, so you're interested in checking those out, go check out our YouTube channel. But we recorded a video about whether you should change your exam or not. So a lot of people are repeat the exam and a lot of times, unless you have a pretty good reason and we have another video coming out about what those reasons may be to switch, I think it's wise to try to stick with the exam that you've become accustomed to taking because you've put in so much effort, you've put in so much money into the resources you've bought, and switching exams is almost like starting over a little bit. So

Kim (24:54): Yeah, I mean, yeah, that's, that would be hard. I think that's how I would feel too. I mean, if I studied so long for water resources and you're like, you know what, I'm gonna just get and do transportation, I think that would turn my whole world upside down.

Isaac (25:06): Yeah, it's a little, it's, it's hard. There are reasons why people do do it and, and you gotta watch our YouTube video. We will explain some of that later. Well, there, there are reasons. So, but that's anyway, that's my take on it, but

Kim (25:22): It's good promo for your video . I really wanna know now.

Isaac (25:28): Yeah, we get that out. Well thank you for joining me today. Thanks for sharing your journey. If you were to recommend, I guess, civil Engineering Academy's course to anybody, why would, why would you recommend it to someone else?

Kim (25:44): I guess I would say, I mean, out of all the different ones, I feel like civil engineering had me, has had a really personal touch and has had like a really good just line of communication between the instructors and yourself. And you know, I feel like it's like second best to being in a classroom, in my opinion. If you can't always be in a classroom, I feel like this is definitely what I would do instead of, I don't know, that's, I I really have enjoyed the, the personal touch and the access to the instructors.

Isaac (26:24): That's great. No, we love, we love hearing that stuff, so we try to be there for people. We wanna be responsive. I'm here we're here to help you. I, I know how crappy this exam experience is. It's the whole reason why I started Civil Engineering Academy in the first place is because I went through it and I've been trying to help people ever since. So, yeah, no, it's true. I try to make it less, less sucky, .

Kim (26:48): Yeah, no, it's really nice. And I, I don't know, it's, it's comforting, I guess, and, and all of your videos and like, just talking to us, it feels, it does feel comforting that it's not just like kind of a giant conglomerate of whoever, wherever making these videos. I like you're a real person.

Isaac (27:08): Well good. Yeah. Well thank you for sharing that. Well, I appreciate you jumping on the podcast, giving your tips taking water resources and so excited about your own journey. Thank you for sharing it and maybe we will chat in the future.

Kim (27:21): Yeah, thanks. Thanks Isaac. Thanks for everything.

Isaac (27:24): Yeah, see ya.

Kim (27:25): See ya.