STEVE AND ANDREA! We are officially instructors! HOORAY!!!!!
Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but we’ve been pretty busy. Since last I posted, we completed our Divemaster training (Divemaster is the first “professional” level for scuba divers), and then moved on to Open Water Scuba Instructor (OWSI) training. The OWSI course lasted two weeks, and was very classroom intensive (and unfortunately involved only limited diving). Basically, at this point we learned how to teach the PADI system. So we had to give classroom presentations, lead classes in the pool, and conduct skill sessions. We also had to take exams on topics like physics, decompression theory, dive equipment, scuba skills and the environment, among other things. It was an intense two weeks.
Things got even more intense this weekend, as we sat (and swam) for the instructor exam. The PADI Instructor exam is conducted over two days, involving six exams (on topics including those mentioned above), a rescue dive demonstration, and leading skill presentations and demonstrations in both confined water (swimming pool) and open water. Our training with ProDive has us well prepared for the exam, but it was still stressful, because if you fail any section of it you have to wait until the next time it is offered to re-take it (it is offered monthly in Florida). As a former lawyer, I’ve been through a much worse examination process with the bar exam, but this was still stressful in that you don’t want to f*ck up and throw off all of our plans and our schedule.
Fortunately, things went well for Andrea and me, and we both passed with flying colors! We finished around noon on Sunday, and after a brief nap, we spent Sunday evening celebrating with our classmates (all of whom passed as well!). And as an extra little bonus, during our celebratory cruise on Sunday night the instructors announced that they had added up the scores for each student on all of the various exams, demonstrations and teaching presentations throughout the instructor course, and I had the highest total score, and so I won a new (and very cool) gear bag. Exciting stuff!
Monday is Memorial Day, and we are taking a much deserved day off! It’s been over two weeks since our last day off, so we are looking forward to sleeping in and relaxing. And then on Tuesday it’s back to work — we start training to be Master Scuba Diver Trainers (MSDTs)! As Open Water Scuba Instructors, we can teach Open Water, Advanced Open Water, Rescue Diver, and Divemaster, as well as a few specific specialties (like peak performance bouyancy). During the MSDT program, we learn to teach a number of specialties, like nitrox, oxygen provider, wreck diving, drift diving, underwater navigator and search & recovery. After the MSDT program we will enter the final phase of our training, as Resort Operation Specialists (ROS). During this part of training we will be certified in NINE additional areas, including equipment specialist and gas blender. So it should be very cool stuff!
Also worth mentioning is that we have a job opportunity! We have a job (if we want it) at a dive shop in St. Thomas! We’re still exploring our options and lookng at all the job opportunities out there, so we haven’t taken this job yet. But it’s nice to have options available!
And that’s what’s new! We’re doing a lot of cool stuff over the next few weeks, but our schedule should be a bit more relaxed, so check back for updates. And until next time…..
GO TEAM SCHMOOP!