Wednesday, July 01, 2009
how it started
I met an ex-colleague over the weekend."So how did you get into this diving thing?" he asked.
It got me thinking about how it all started.
It was the MIDE (Malaysia International Dive Expo) weekend back in July 2007 and we decided to drive down to PWTC to check it out. We hadn't started diving then, but went just because.
We walked along the aisles, booths on our left and right. We drooled at the picture displays that were put up by exhibitors. We marveled at the dive equipments which were on sale. We asked questions and were given answers. We also collected name cards and brochures.
As we were about to make our way out, we saw this lady manning the booth on her own. She had a friendly and approachable face, unlike the guy whom we had just spoken to (I still remember the name of his Dive Centre to this very day!)
We had a quick chat and took her name card away with us.
It was end of 2007 when we finally went for our first theory class, and we've never looked back since.
Yes, her friendly and approachable face made a difference to us in the sea (no pun intended) of other dive centres at MIDE that afternoon.
But that was only the beginning.
It's been 15 months since we got our PADI Open Water Diver certification.
We could have gone for that one trip and then not dive again for another year. We could have gone for that one trip and then decided that diving isn't that great afterall. Worse - we could have gone for that one trip and then realized that diving is bullshit and regret forking out money to be certified.
But of course, nothing of that sort happened.
We are now in the midst of our PADI Divemaster course, the first step towards making scuba diving a career. From hereon, we will be moving on to do our Instructor Development Course to lead up to the Instructor Exam (IE). And if all goes well, we'll be PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors before the year ends!
Très exciting, non?
And for this, we've got Lynette to thank.
Thank you for making us book all those trips we booked. Thank you for sharing with us - your passion, your enthusiasm, your knowledge. Thank you for leading the way in showing us that we can make a career out of this, just like you did. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for believing in us.
Having said that, it's not all a fun ride. In the months leading up to the IE, there is much to be done! So much to read, so much to learn, and so much to remember. Meeting our PADI Course Director over the weekend was a wee bit daunting, but it further drove home the point that this is serious work, but one which will yield serious fun upon completion.
Well, we started our story with MIDE back in 2007. And now, MIDE 2009 is here this weekend, 3-5 July at the PWTC!
See you there?
Posted by Doreen at 12:30 pm
