HERE'S TO OUR NEWEST INSTRUCTOR!
HUGE congratulations to Neil
Davison - now a fully fledged Open Water Scuba Instructor having
qualified (with flying colours) with us in February!
Who better
to described the IDC and IE than the man himself - so it's over to
you Neil....
"I've
had several view points on this aspect of my diving to date - avoid
like the plague and take up knitting; why am I enduring the
equivalent of a 36 hour driving test? What was all the fuss about?
And what a fantastic bunch of people we dive with.
David
Fitzsimmons, whilst already the focal point of ScoobaBoosta, has
proved himself to be a bottomless source of knowledge,
help and assistance.
I'd got
the benefit of having done the AI course previously, so I was
exposed to nothing new during the IDC or IE other than the
self-imposed pressure not to let anyone down.
Consisting
of quite an intense 2 week stint of days off the day job and
late night's revising, presenting and being presented to, I've
benefitted from quite possibly the best value course to date!
An
invaluable collection service was also provided by Dave at 6.45am
on the day of the IE in Rugby. On arrival, rather like the
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's "Don't Panic", PADI
had their projector stating in equally friendly large letters:
"Stay Calm." Obviously, the message was largely wasted on
the 14 candidates sat around the impressive lecture theatre at
Rugby School.
After the
inductions, we start the exams, then some more. A brief break, we
do some classroom presentations. Lunch time arrives after the exam
results and we're off to the pool for skill
demonstrations and pool presentations. After that
Dave and I head off to Coventry to run a Seal Team group for
relaxation!
Sunday
morning, a sunny Stoney Cove and 2 degrees in the air awaits
everyone. A briefing from the PADI Examiners, then we brief our
Open Water training dives to fellow candidates, but first we're off
into our rescue scenario demonstrations.
Assorted
Course Directors are assisting on the surface and pacing like
expectant mothers (or should that be fathers). A quick warm up then
it's down onto the platform for the Open Water scenarios for the 14
candidates. Everyone role playing as students, assistants and
instructors in 5 degree water, following our slates meticulously,
watching for the deliberate - and some unintentional errors
thrown in for us.
We all
finish, everyone out, everyone changed and dry. We join our
Course Directors pacing and chatting expectantly.One by one
we're called over to our Examiners to debrief them on the skills
we'd earlier briefed and performed. The handshake is given and
a really stupid grin appears on my face. A round of mutual
congratulations with the other new Instructors and off to
Nemo's for our certificate presentation.
Back to my
third view of the IDC and IE, what a fantastic bunch of people
we dive with. A huge thank you firstly to Dave and Sarah, but
equally to all the staff and friends of ScoobaBoosta who
willingly gave up their time to play student (naughty or otherwise),
give advice and offer support. I'm very humbled by the
willingness to help everyone has shown over the past couple of
weeks. Brilliant!"
Thank you
Neil - and our very best congratulations again - here's to a
fantastic new Instructor!
Our next
Instructor Development programme begins in June - keep reading for
the details...
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