Instructor - Why ?

[Al Mialkovsky]

Instructing is all I do. It was a late life job change and what got me to change was remembering what my dad once told me. He said if you do what you love you'll never work a day in your life.

I don't make much money. It costs more than it should to be an instructor but in my view it was worth it. I live by a mudhole and so it isn't that tropical island paradise. That comes in a few years. But I'd rather dive and turn people into divers than anything else.

Funny thing though, when I started the owners told me they'd train me but that no one would hire some old fart in his 50's to be an instructor. They all want young guys that look good in a speedo.

Now I'm their primary instructor and director of training. A good work ethic and some basic people skills go a long ways

 

[TheScubaGirl]

Why I became an instructor? I was hooked the moment I descended on my first open water dive on a holiday in Mozambique. Its taken many years since then for me to become more than just a holiday diver, but I finally became an instructor and have been doing it part-time for over a year now. So its still early days for me as an instructor and I will only start doing it full-time next year. I guess its always possible that too much of a good thing could get boring, but I would rather be out in the sunshine in/on the ocean than in the office all day. I've been working in IT for years and hate being stuck inside when the weather is glorious outside. I even love the pool sessions, its fun, its good exercise(especially the heavy lifting of gear), its wet, its social, and I love the teaching! I've always loved being active and in water and can't imagine any other job to be better.

All this said, being a divemaster would also do the trick. I would suggest living the lifestyle as a divemaster first before becoming an instructor, cause the lifestyle might be for you but teaching might not.

 

[MichaelBaranows]

I thoult men became instructors to hit on the hot chicks at resorts.

 

[Caver95]

I thoult men became instructors to hit on the hot chicks at resorts.

yeah it is

 

[boulderjohn]

I can't believe how many replies this has gotten already!

This reply applies to someone who, like me, lives in an inland area without local access to good diving.

After a lifetime in public education, I semi-retired. I had this thought that I could supplement my income through instruction just about enough to pay for diving trips and possibly other recreational activities. My plan was to start as a DM assisting in instruction and work my way up.

Ice cold reality has changed all of that.

I got my DM and did some assisting, but that was less than satisfactory. A DM really can't do much assisting in instruction--they jsut mostly make sure no one drowns. The LDS for which I was working decided they were only going to use AI's for assisting, because it makes pool work much more eficient. That pushed me to the next level.

I considered going all the way to Instructor at that point, but once more cold reality stepped in. I could work for the LDS as an AI, but they already had more instructors than they needed, and the ones they had were not getting enough work as it was. The LDS will be happy to have me get my instructor rating and continue to work as an AI for them, but I already have trouble making enough to cover my basic expenses, including insurance. It made no sense to me to do the same work for the same pay but give myself more overhead.

Oh, I could go totally independent, but in Colorado, I would have a very hard time getting any students or places to dive on my own.

So I am on cruise control for the time being as an AI. I suppose some time in the near future I will take the next step, even though it makes absolutely no sense to financially.

Why?

Because I get an absolute charge out of working with students. I used to get something near a high when things were clicking in the classroom, and I need that fix. I do it for that experience, and I don't have to pay too much to have it.

John

 

[jaak]

Respect DMMIKE! That's the spirit and that says it all. Can't agree with you MORE!

jaak