Tuesday, September 2, 2008
What I did on my summer vacation
Summer has historically been my favorite season; it’s a time for exploring activities one generally doesn’t have the opportunity to pursue during the rest of the year. School’s out, companies operate with summer hours, things slow down. It’s a perfect opportunity to roll back the normal routine and enjoy alternative pursuits (some of which you’ll read about in this issue). Some people use the time while the weather is warm to vacation; the Hampton Jitneys are packed with the summer-share crowd and weekend beach warriors. Some decide that it’s a good opportunity to get more educated.
To that end, I decided it was finally time to undertake the challenge of the NAUI ITC (Instructor Training Course). I’d been thinking about it for number of years, and finally, the stars and my instructor aligned, and I began the course in April. Participating with me are two Oceanblue veterans, Avra Cohen and Vincent Maida, and at some undetermined time in August, if all goes as planned, we should be newly minted NAUI instructors. While some people are at the beach, we’re studying physics and physiology, the NAUI presentation formula and effective use of training aids.
The ultimate advantages of being an instructor are many. As the president of a large dive club, it obviously makes sense on many levels. There are business implications and a whole host of other practical reasons that make it worthwhile. Most of all, though, for me, it’s been a personal journey where knowledge and limits are constantly tested and expanded.
The NAUI program has several facets: in-water skills, classroom and in-water presentation skills, physics, to name some of the prominent ones. It’s all been a learning experience, and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to increase their knowledge of diving. But of all the things I’ve learned during the course of the program, the greatest value has come in the form of greater self-knowledge. During all the proficiency exercises and presentations, you become more acutely aware of how you react to different sorts of stresses, and hopefully look at yourself with a fair amount of perspective. It’s like putting yourself in a behavior lab and observing yourself from the outside. You go into the program thinking you want to be an instructor, but if you do it right, you come out a better person as well. I can say the same about any dive class I’ve taken since the very beginning. This one’s no different.
In mid-July, Oceanblue Divers presented our first course, an intensive Rescue Weekend given by Lifeguard Systems. I know that when all the participants drove home from the class, they not only left knowing a lot more about how to rescue someone while diving, they too learned a lot about themselves in the process. Can’t think of a better way to spend a summer!
To that end, I decided it was finally time to undertake the challenge of the NAUI ITC (Instructor Training Course). I’d been thinking about it for number of years, and finally, the stars and my instructor aligned, and I began the course in April. Participating with me are two Oceanblue veterans, Avra Cohen and Vincent Maida, and at some undetermined time in August, if all goes as planned, we should be newly minted NAUI instructors. While some people are at the beach, we’re studying physics and physiology, the NAUI presentation formula and effective use of training aids.
The ultimate advantages of being an instructor are many. As the president of a large dive club, it obviously makes sense on many levels. There are business implications and a whole host of other practical reasons that make it worthwhile. Most of all, though, for me, it’s been a personal journey where knowledge and limits are constantly tested and expanded.
The NAUI program has several facets: in-water skills, classroom and in-water presentation skills, physics, to name some of the prominent ones. It’s all been a learning experience, and I would recommend it to anyone that wants to increase their knowledge of diving. But of all the things I’ve learned during the course of the program, the greatest value has come in the form of greater self-knowledge. During all the proficiency exercises and presentations, you become more acutely aware of how you react to different sorts of stresses, and hopefully look at yourself with a fair amount of perspective. It’s like putting yourself in a behavior lab and observing yourself from the outside. You go into the program thinking you want to be an instructor, but if you do it right, you come out a better person as well. I can say the same about any dive class I’ve taken since the very beginning. This one’s no different.
In mid-July, Oceanblue Divers presented our first course, an intensive Rescue Weekend given by Lifeguard Systems. I know that when all the participants drove home from the class, they not only left knowing a lot more about how to rescue someone while diving, they too learned a lot about themselves in the process. Can’t think of a better way to spend a summer!
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
