19 Year Old Instructor

[gator4798]

Hello all. I dont post much here but i love the site . Any ways I just got my Rescue Cert(yay for me) and am currently doing my Dive Master Cert course and will hope fully have my instructer rating by age 19. Well my question is for you to think back to your first Open Water Class. Would you take a 18 or 19 Year Old instructor seriously or would you think of it as some kind of joke. Im just wondering because i will do it no matter what but want to know what its gonna be like Thanks Alot for helping me out with this!!

 

[wedivebc]

Hello all. I dont post much here but i love the site . Any ways I just got my Rescue Cert(yay for me) and am currently doing my Dive Master Cert course and will hope fully have my instructer rating by age 19. Well my question is for you to think back to your first Open Water Class. Would you take a 18 or 19 Year Old instructor seriously or would you think of it as some kind of joke. Im just wondering because i will do it no matter what but want to know what its gonna be like Thanks Alot for helping me out with this!!

Good for you! I don't know if an old goat like myself would take a 19yo seriously but I have learned alot in my years on this earth and I am always learning.
There are a large number of young people taking up scuba and you will be in a unique position to relate to them. Have fun and good luck.

 

[alcina]

You will most likely run into some resistance etc, but as long as you are experienced and competent your students will sing your praises. Don't become a know-it-all to try to compensate...no new instructor (or old instructor ) knows it all no matter their age. Be able and willing to ask for help, direction, clarification and alternatives.

No matter your age, I personally think that 100 logged dives is not usually enough to be a competent instructor, whether or not you pass the instructor's course. There is much more to it than that.

Best advice would be go for it, get wet as often as possible, sit in on as many courses/types of diving as possible with as wide a variety of dive leaders and instructors as possible. Once certified as an instructor (or DM amend the following as appropriate), team teach so you can build a solid foundation of skills and paradigms to work with. One of the biggest hurdles for young instructors is there just isn't enough life experience to give you a good selection of ways to teach and approach things so you are going to have go in working hard to gain those bits on your own instead of collecting them as the years pass.

Have fun and good luck!

 

[paolov]

i don't think its much of age but on your dive credentials. That's your dive experiences. You got your Rescue Cert., the DM is what would make your diving very Exciting!!! make very good use of your DM training and DMing. Learn the most techniques on handling different types of divers and the varying conditions of the sea , my advise so that no one may second guess your being an instructor, take your DM at least a full year , so that you may be able to experience DMing at the different conditions of the sea in a year.

Happy Diving and Training!!!!

 

[cdtgray]

I agree with the other posters in regards to experience - without experience you will not be able to be an effective instructor.

However, in order to be taken seriously, you need much more than experience. To be a good instructor, professionalism and maturity are vitaly important. If you present yourself in a professional manner, then your students will be able to tap into and learn for your experience. If you do not present yourself in such a manner, then you will appear as, in your words, "some kind of joke."

Teaching can be very rewarding and enjoyable, but comes with a great deal of responsibility. If you feel that you are ready for the responsibility and can present yourself professionally, I urge you to follow your interests and become an instructor. If you have doubts, I would wait until those doubts have passed.

 

[IslandHopper]

I don't think you'll get much flak ... new students know nothing about Scuba, and you are an instructor ... that's about all most of them will care about.

At age 19, I was teaching "adults" how to fly airplanes ... age never seemed to be an issue with anyone.

 

[Keysdrifter454]

Would you take a 18 or 19 Year Old instructor seriously or would you think of it as some kind of joke.

Depends on whether or not you have a clue.

 

[El Orans]

If you can come across as a mature capable instructor, I would have no problems with a younger instructor.

 

[sharkbaitDAN]

I don't remeber running into much flak at all as a 19 year old instructor. I mostly taught resort courses in the Bahamas, but did regular courses as well. You have to earn the students' respect, and being young, you may have to work a little harder to get it. Its fun though, and as I said, rarely a problem. Remeber, if anyone questions your age, talk to them about it rationally. Many, if not most colleges have courses, and that is a great place to get experience if you are worried. Its easier teaching students you can relate to. I also have a good friend who is a CFI and teaches aerobatics, been doing that since he was about 19. I don't think he's run into problems either with age.

 

[Diver0001]

Would you take a 18 or 19 Year Old instructor seriously or would you think of it as some kind of joke. Im just wondering because i will do it no matter what but want to know what its gonna be like Thanks Alot for helping me out with this!!

Age doesn't factor into it..... I would take anyone seriously who had the teaching skills and the diving experience. And you need both.

An instructor (regardless of age) who rushed to get the papers and can't navigate his way out of a bathtub or hasn't seen (and dealt with) things going pear-shaped in the real world isn't going to inspire my confidence.

Also, instructors who have never worked as CA's have a much bigger learning curve to deal with when they first start. Personally I don't think it's fair to the instructor or his/her students to certify someone for teaching until they've actively worked as a DM/AI first. I know PADI doesn't care but in my mind that's a major flaw.

I guess my question to you is "what's the rush"? Why not get your DM and work as a DM or AI for a couple of years while you consolidate your diving experience (and maybe skills) and learn the tricks of the trade.....

R..