I just recently had something interesting happen in one of my classes. I had a gentleman who went through most of the class but hasn't yet finished it. He was originally in a hurry to finish to go on a diving trip with some friends. He would get almost confrontational with me when he had difficulties & I would try show him alternative ways to slove his problem. He completed his classroom session & finished all but the last session of his pool. At that last session he told me he was actually terrified of the water, yet he never showed it until the last session. He said he was pressured into taking lessons by his traveling companions. His biggest complaint was that his ears hurt him on decent to 10ft & that he could not equalize. Whether this is truly the case or not, I can not say. He had been down to the bottom of the deep end in the previous 2 sessions, but did complain about his ears. On that last night, on descent, he would signal to me that his ears hurt & then try to bolt to the surface using his BC infaltor from 7- 8 ft. Of course, I was right there & slowed him down & warned him each time when we got to the surface. This happened 3 times. At the last time he bolted, I stearnly warned him not to touch his inflator again. The odd thing was, through out the class until the last session, his skills were calm & solid as we practiced them time & again. After 45 min of trying to work with him, he finally decided he'd had enough. He told me that he would go see an ENT Specialist about his ears & if cleared, would return. We'll see,...... I did not sign him off for his pool session because 1. he still had a few last skills to learn & 2. After his displays (bolting while laying on his inflator) of how uncomfortable he was.
Last week the group leader for this trip came in & inquired to my student's progress. The head instructor called me to the front of the shop to give the report. I told the group leader that the student had not completed his pool sessions & that because of that the the bolting, I could not sign him off as being ready to do his Open Water check- out dives. The group leader seemed surprised at what I told him & then asked me if I would "let him slide by to go to the open water check- out dives, even though he had not completed all his pool skills". I told him "absolutely not." "Not only would it be against standards , but he would be a danger to himself & those he was diving with". I also made the leader think when I said, "if he can't get down to 10ft in a pool, how would he be able to get down to 30ft in the ocean?" My statement about not signing him off was not made because the head instructor was standing right there & that's what he would have wanted to hear, but because I have enough pride that I want my students to be able to handle whatever may come their way that is within their training (aka standards), comfortably. If a student doesn't pass the muster of any section of the training, I'm not going to sign them off, period. It is my name that goes on their card. I want to be comfortable in knowing that they can survive & enjoy themselves below the surface. If they want, I will continue to work with them until they are proficient, confident & comfortable or decide that diving is not for them. I would hope that if one of our Dive Cons (even candidates) sees that a student is not up to par & that for some reason, I'm not catching it, that they would discuss their concerns with me. I am personally open to constructive criticism & welcome the input, as long as done in a civil manner & in an appropriate venue.