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Pool Session
Me teaching a fin pivot in the pool to my classmates.All of my training in the past few months has lead up to these few days, The Instructor Development Course (IDC) and the Instructor Exam (IE). It was finally time to test me on my skills and knowledge about the dive industry, to see if I was suitable to teach people about the underwater world that I have come to both love and respect. And it was quite a journey, and prove to be one of the most dreaded and wonderful times of my life. Fresh off of my internship at Heron Island, I was eager to come back to Sydney and reunite with not only my friends here, but to begin my training as an instructor. I was ready to begin, but had no idea what I was in for.
Just a background of what this all entails. The IDC (Instructor Development Course) was the reason I chose to come to Abyss Scuba in Sydney. They are on of the centers that teaches instructors, and is one of the most renouned CDC (Career Development Center) in the world. The course consists of two weeks of non-stop education about diving and the art of teaching it. I learned in-depth how
Knowledge Presentation
I'm sure what I had to say was very, very important. diving came about and how it is maintatined today, learned skills about teaching, was tested on my own knowledge, and gave presentations about different aspects of diving. It was one of the longest two weeks of my life, but also some of the most rewarding. It all comes down, however, to the Instructor Exam (IE). A three day long exam that tests you on your knowledge, skills, and teaching abilities. Some of the most stressful days of my life, aside from some of those finals weeks at Ohio State.
The IDC was split into two, one part-time and one full-time group (mine being full-time 2 weeks). Everyday from 8am-8pm we would work on every aspect that was the IE. We gave classroom presentations about the importance of good regulators and explained exatly what causes oxygen toxicity. Pool sessions were also a major part of the training, where we would spend about 7 hours a day running through skills and how to develop our methods of teaching. We learned how to not only train, but how to spot problems and concerns when it comes to teaching students. The last aspect of the exam was the theroy part, and my most
Dive Brief
Me conducting a dive briefing before getting in at Bare Island. dreaded section. All of the knowledge was based on 6 differents sections: Standards and Procedures (rules and regulations of the dive industry) General Skills and Information, Physiology (mostly about the body and illnesses that are dive related), Equipment, Environment, and Physics (my worst part). All of the information that was needed to pass this section was found in books and took alot of mezmerization and patience. And there were alot of books, alot of things to learn, and after 12 hours in the classroom/pool, all I wanted to do was sleep. The IDC was hands-down the longest and most stressful two weeks of my life. I was beyond exhausted, irritable and just generally stressed out. But all that studying and practicing and repeating prepared me for a very long IE weekend.
The IE, or Instructor Exam, is conducted at the head office of PADI Asia-Pacific in Sydney. All of my skills were evaluated by examiner from PADI, the theroy exams (75% pass) and the skills with a strict pass/fail rating. Not a whole lot of opportunity to make mistakes. Needless to say, tensions were high that weekend.
Day one consisted of the theroy exams, which last about 4
Deep Dive
Me (lt blue fins) and my classmates entering the missle silo on the HMAS Adalaide. hours of Friday night. Through the whole IDC, I was having issues with Physics, and the last practice exam I took, I finally passed the Physics, but failed the Physiology. In the car on the way to the exam center, I was stressed, having not passed my practice exams yet. After a description of how the weekend would run, the exams started. After about 2 hours or so I was done. I turned in my exam and waited for the examiner to grade my exam in front of the whole class of 17. And when he told me I passed, a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. Not only did I pass, but I was one of the only people to score 100% on the whole exam. Man did it feel good.
Day two was a long day, starting with a general skills circut and teaching in the pool, and a knowledge development presentaiton in the evening. I wasn't cocerned about this aspect and passed the pool session with somewhat ease, teaaching my skills and being tested on my own as well. During the knowledge presentation, I gave a speech on the purposes and use of pocket masks
New Instructors
The passing instructors and examiners. in rescue skills. Again, no concerns here, I passed with a 4.8 out of 5. Imagine that, I like talking in front of other people, such a surprize.
Dy three was the ocean presentations, where we had to run skills in the ocean, the most strict part of the exam. Mostly becasue some of the skills we are tested on can result in death to one of the divers. After running our teaching skills, we had to run through rescue scenarios and how to handle emergency situations. After the skills were done, we debriefed about the weekend and waited to hear our results.
I passed, and so did my classmates. After and extremely stressful two weeks, after basically no sleep, after all the studying, it was all over and I can now officially call myself a PADI Dive Instructor with 5 specalities, one of which involved me going deep diving on the HMAS Adalaide during the IDC. And of course, it called for a celebration, which let me tell you went well into the night. Now that it's over, I only have to certify 25 people to become an Master Scuba Dive Trainer (MSDT) and I will be
My First Certifications!
Me and my first two divers during the pool session! finished with my time here in Australia.
Over the next two weeks, I will be training open water students and certifying people in a number of things. I will also become specialized in how to service dive equipment and researching where to find a job as well as ways for me to get involved in marine conservation. Since I certified my first 2 people just yesterday, I'll have alot more time to see where I want my dive career to go, and how to go about getting what I want and doing what I love for the rest of my life. And believe me, the only place to go from here is up.
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