I'm Grant Ramsey, third step. I'm from Silver City, Iowa, but my home local is 15 and a quarter. 

What was I doing before I became a Mo Valley apprentice? I spent a couple years working for a non-union company. Did a lot of T-line and...yeah, just a lot of T-line, I guess. Traveled around a bit, all through Nebraska, Iowa, northern Missouri, and had a job in Texas. 

Some benefits for sure is the knowledge base of guys that are in the union, willing to teach. I feel like every job that I've been to while in the union, I've been surrounded by a lot of journeymen that really know what's going on. Versus non-union, the journeyman to apprentice rate was kind of concerning in my eyes. Some challenges of going into the union have been relearning things, relearning how to do things correctly. And that's about it, I think. 

What would I say about my experience at MoValley this far? It's been good. Learned a lot, that's for sure. I have learned a lot more in the year that I've been here than I did my whole time non-union. I think it's good. I have a drive to be the best lineman that I can be, and that wasn't going to happen non-union. So I'm glad that I made the switch.