Yesterday, I passed my Instructor Examination and earned my Open Water Scuba Diver Instructor qualification, pending processing by PADI.
The training has been pretty much non-stop since I arrived here on July 7 and has been quite intensive.
Utila Dive Center (UDC) and the entire team of professionals but most especially Trina, Juicy and Nico have been superb. The level of instruction, the attention to detail, the environmental commitment and the day to day work ethic of the professionals has been awesome.
Of course, I honed many of the dive skills I had before and learned new ones, but I have honed skills on listening, observing, demonstrating and anticipating. I believe these skill refinements will enhance my abilities in all walks of life, not just scuba diving.
I have also learned that if as human beings we aren’t learning or teaching in some capacity, we are missing out on important aspects of the human experience. We should always be learning, but at some point we should transition over to being a mentor for people we love or respect or on topics we are pssionate about.
As for me, Friday morning the next step starts which is two weeks of more specialized teaching training in several advanced diving disciplines. That phase is called Master Scuba Diving Trainer-Internship.
