To begin, I REALLY wish that I would have known about the whole scuba diving community back in the early-mid 80's (the late high school and college days). I do believe that I would have considered a different line of work. But, that aside...:huh:
I actually had a colleague who talked me into taking a certification class at the local YMCA, in 1995. He had been a long-time certified diver, lost his c-card long before computer records and decided that he would re-certify because, as he stated, "I guess there might be a new thing or two in SCUBA over the past 20 years."
Boy, was he correct--and even in the past 12 years of my diving, there is alot new! Since then, I have passed my "mentor" in training and overall dives, but we still love talking about the class we took together and the few travels and dives that we have shared. What a difference 10-15 years makes, as I said before. Had I started diving at 18-21, rather than 31...well, who knows. That's what retirement is for, right??