Education is something I've always felt is important. Barely getting by is not something I've ever strived for in any of my undertakings, academic or otherwise.
When I learned to dive, I was like many, I wasn't aware there were differences in various classes. I never really gave it any thought. That's something that bothers me; I should have given it some thought. Who isn't aware that some schools are better than others? Who isn't aware that some teachers are better than others? Many of us had favorite teachers in school who put in that extra effort to help us catch up if we were behind or to help us push forward when we had the ability and the desire. Why was it not obvious to me that learning to dive wouldn't be exactly the same? I really don't know. I really never gave it any thought.
Then I learned to dive. My class was taught by an old college buddy and his girlfriend. They were amazing! They taught me how to clear a snorkel and breathe through it with my face in the water. It was so easy! What I didn't realize was I was also learning a skill that sends shivers down the spines of many certified divers - no mask breathing. By the time we got to no mask breathing, it was a snap.
We spent lots of time in the pool learning lots of skills and it was all so incredibly easy to do. When I went for my check out dives (split between a cold quarry and a sink in North Florida and diving the beautiful reefs of the Bahamas on a live aboard, I was comfortable and confident. What a shock, me the kid who nearly drowned in a pool and taught myself to swim as an adult. I've never been comfortable or confident in the water. Suddenly, I was. That class transformed me.
Not long after I completed all my requirements, my brand new YMCA certification card arrived and I started to explore on my own with buddies I found along the way. As I gained experience, I was surprised to find many divers were not very skilled. Many divers had no confidence. One night in Cozumel, a group of us decided to make a night dive. As we were planning our dive, it soon became obvious that I was by far the most experienced diver there and everyone was looking to me to lead them. It was only my 5th night dive, but I felt comfortable. That night, one of the divers panicked. That night I made my first rescue. Fortunately, I'd learned how to make rescues in my open water class, as my rescue (SLAM) class was still a month or two in the future. That night got me to thinking about why divers panic. Why are some divers confident while others with a similar amount of experience aren't? What is the difference? I'm certainly not anything special. I'm the geek who was afraid of the water, not the captain of the swim team. The difference has nothing to do with me, but with something that changed me.
Over time I learned that my class was unusual. The time taken to learn skills was more than that found in most classes. The skills learned were more involved than those learned in most classes. The skills were broken down into smaller steps than in most classes. Judging from my initial ability in the water (pretty poor) and the end result, it was obvious that something about that class was pretty darned special. Watching instructors and students from both types of classes over the years reinforced my thoughts about what a dive class can do and about what so many of them don't do - transform people into divers.
So, in 1986, I started teaching the YMCA SCUBA Program. Even I got those amazing results with students. I enjoyed teaching folks to dive. I enjoyed teaching divers about other aspects of diving.
Lots of changes around 2002 - 2005. The YMCA of the USA brought the SCUBA Program into the Chicago office, eliminated the Advisory Committee, started requiring sanctions to teach any class and let it be known that the SCUBA Program might have a limited life span. I continued to teach, the standards were still top notch, but the changes had taken much away from what made teaching YSCUBA so much fun. At the end of 2006, about 20 years after I was first certified to teach folks to dive, I retired.
This year, I received word (from my old college buddy who taught me to dive) that YSCUBA was ending. At first, I was angry, but after consideration, I realized that it was for the best. While the standards were still high, YSCUBA was not the same organization through which I'd certified divers for all those years. When I heard Tom Leaird was working on starting an agency with high standards like YSCUBA, but with absolutely no affiliation with the YMCA of the USA, an agency run by instructors, based on what's important in teaching diving, not what's important in the marketplace, I was really glad YSCUBA was ending.
SCUBA Educators International Diving is the agency YSCUBA once was and more. SEI is committed to maintaining high standards. The high standards that make learning to dive easy. The high standards that give people confidence in their ability. The high standards that transform people, to turn them into divers, not merely people who dive. SEI is expanding around the world. SEI is not requiring us to obtain a sanction to teach a class. SEI is being run by instructors, not by clerks in some office or by the marketing department. I'm excited about SCUBA Educators International Diving and that's why I've come out of retirement and am once again teaching folks about diving, this time through SEI.
I'm thankful to the YMCA of the USA. Through their SCUBA program, they established the program which I feel is a wonderful way to learn to dive and made it available to many people all across the US and, in a limited way, in other countries. They made it available to me and I still proudly show my YMCA card when I dive. For 50 years, they carried the torch of high standards in a quality program. Now it's time to move on in a rebirth of that program. SEI is that rebirth and I'm proud to be a part of it as an SEI Instructor.
When I learned to dive, I was like many, I wasn't aware there were differences in various classes. I never really gave it any thought. That's something that bothers me; I should have given it some thought. Who isn't aware that some schools are better than others? Who isn't aware that some teachers are better than others? Many of us had favorite teachers in school who put in that extra effort to help us catch up if we were behind or to help us push forward when we had the ability and the desire. Why was it not obvious to me that learning to dive wouldn't be exactly the same? I really don't know. I really never gave it any thought.
Then I learned to dive. My class was taught by an old college buddy and his girlfriend. They were amazing! They taught me how to clear a snorkel and breathe through it with my face in the water. It was so easy! What I didn't realize was I was also learning a skill that sends shivers down the spines of many certified divers - no mask breathing. By the time we got to no mask breathing, it was a snap.
We spent lots of time in the pool learning lots of skills and it was all so incredibly easy to do. When I went for my check out dives (split between a cold quarry and a sink in North Florida and diving the beautiful reefs of the Bahamas on a live aboard, I was comfortable and confident. What a shock, me the kid who nearly drowned in a pool and taught myself to swim as an adult. I've never been comfortable or confident in the water. Suddenly, I was. That class transformed me.
Not long after I completed all my requirements, my brand new YMCA certification card arrived and I started to explore on my own with buddies I found along the way. As I gained experience, I was surprised to find many divers were not very skilled. Many divers had no confidence. One night in Cozumel, a group of us decided to make a night dive. As we were planning our dive, it soon became obvious that I was by far the most experienced diver there and everyone was looking to me to lead them. It was only my 5th night dive, but I felt comfortable. That night, one of the divers panicked. That night I made my first rescue. Fortunately, I'd learned how to make rescues in my open water class, as my rescue (SLAM) class was still a month or two in the future. That night got me to thinking about why divers panic. Why are some divers confident while others with a similar amount of experience aren't? What is the difference? I'm certainly not anything special. I'm the geek who was afraid of the water, not the captain of the swim team. The difference has nothing to do with me, but with something that changed me.
Over time I learned that my class was unusual. The time taken to learn skills was more than that found in most classes. The skills learned were more involved than those learned in most classes. The skills were broken down into smaller steps than in most classes. Judging from my initial ability in the water (pretty poor) and the end result, it was obvious that something about that class was pretty darned special. Watching instructors and students from both types of classes over the years reinforced my thoughts about what a dive class can do and about what so many of them don't do - transform people into divers.
So, in 1986, I started teaching the YMCA SCUBA Program. Even I got those amazing results with students. I enjoyed teaching folks to dive. I enjoyed teaching divers about other aspects of diving.
Lots of changes around 2002 - 2005. The YMCA of the USA brought the SCUBA Program into the Chicago office, eliminated the Advisory Committee, started requiring sanctions to teach any class and let it be known that the SCUBA Program might have a limited life span. I continued to teach, the standards were still top notch, but the changes had taken much away from what made teaching YSCUBA so much fun. At the end of 2006, about 20 years after I was first certified to teach folks to dive, I retired.
This year, I received word (from my old college buddy who taught me to dive) that YSCUBA was ending. At first, I was angry, but after consideration, I realized that it was for the best. While the standards were still high, YSCUBA was not the same organization through which I'd certified divers for all those years. When I heard Tom Leaird was working on starting an agency with high standards like YSCUBA, but with absolutely no affiliation with the YMCA of the USA, an agency run by instructors, based on what's important in teaching diving, not what's important in the marketplace, I was really glad YSCUBA was ending.
SCUBA Educators International Diving is the agency YSCUBA once was and more. SEI is committed to maintaining high standards. The high standards that make learning to dive easy. The high standards that give people confidence in their ability. The high standards that transform people, to turn them into divers, not merely people who dive. SEI is expanding around the world. SEI is not requiring us to obtain a sanction to teach a class. SEI is being run by instructors, not by clerks in some office or by the marketing department. I'm excited about SCUBA Educators International Diving and that's why I've come out of retirement and am once again teaching folks about diving, this time through SEI.
I'm thankful to the YMCA of the USA. Through their SCUBA program, they established the program which I feel is a wonderful way to learn to dive and made it available to many people all across the US and, in a limited way, in other countries. They made it available to me and I still proudly show my YMCA card when I dive. For 50 years, they carried the torch of high standards in a quality program. Now it's time to move on in a rebirth of that program. SEI is that rebirth and I'm proud to be a part of it as an SEI Instructor.
