For all the SCUBA divers that want to be teachers

Well here I am, more then half way through my teaching program…  Next week I will be facing the toughest critics yet, my students.  They will be looking to me for knowledge, wisdom, and above all answers. Maybe this is where my insomnia has come from the past few nights.  I thought it was rooted in my procrastination to get all my assignments finished but now it seems that it could be more. Or maybe it's excitement for the next chapter of my personal and professional growth.

It's similar to how I felt when going through the open water PADI course.  Granted I was 12 at the time but the feelings were still there.  All the excitement from learning the proper techniques in the pool and getting all the tests done.  Going to bed knowing that the only thing standing in your way of being a certified diver is you and the big old blue. 

If you are not a diver let me explain, there are three steps to getting certification: step one, learn about all the gear needed for safe diving, step two, learn how to use said gear in a pool, and finally step three, using all the knowledge you have gathered to safely venture out in the open ocean.  Granted there are a few little things in between but you get the picture.  Becoming a teacher has a similar structure: step one, learn about pedagogy, step two, learn how to effectively teach to students, and step three, practice what you have learned with supervision and guidance.

So back to diving, what if I wake up in the morning and completely blank?  What if I forget which is my regulator and which is my octo?  What if I forget how to inflate or deflate my BC or read my gauges?  All of these questions floating around in my mind.  Will I just sink to the bottom and never find my way back up, or will I not have enough weight to even get my head under.  I will let you know when I come up for air.