Day one is complete and I have a new empathy towards new instructors and even those divers who are learning a new skill or taking a new class. I have been diving with sharks, places no one has ever been before, under ice, and a myriad of other challenging locations. Never in my life have I been so apprehensive as yesterday when I stood up and introduced myself to 50 of the most talented diving instructors in the world today. I was literally shaking when it was all over. I will get through this but I guess the enormity of it all hit me at that moment.
Today was about orientation in the morning, standards testing and in the afternoon we had a rescue diver workshop and a confined water evaluation workshop. As much as I thought I knew I learned a ton and I am happy to say I passed all the evaluation points that were needed on this first day. The course directors who are running the course are top shelf, approachable and ready to help. They are there to take us from wherever we happen to be and make us better. I have no self-doubt about my abilities after yesterday, I just worry I will miss something. The level of empathy that I have learned and the people I have met just this first day have made the trip worth it. From a standpoint of the connections I have made with people who I may never have met otherwise makes this a goal worth attaining.
Today we have more classroom programs in the morning then in the afternoon we are doing our first confined water presentation/evaluation. We play the role of students, Course Directors and Evaluators today and we get to do it in the ocean which is really exciting.
Mentally this first day was exhausting but the support we get from the people that are here helps a lot and the fellow candidates bring to the program a level of energy that is unmatched in my recent experience.
I am looking forward to today even though I am still a bit nervous, my confidence is growing.
No comments:
Post a Comment