What's the hardest class you have taken, and what made it hard?

Another spinoff . . . in another thread, beanojones commented that idolizing "bad ass" classes is counterproductive, because a well-taught class should take you through the material in a way that makes it quite possible to learn and reach the expected standard.

That make me sit down and think about the many classes I have taken, and what made them easy or hard.

In general, easy classes were those where either very little was expected of me, or my capacity coming into the class was "overqualified".

My hardest class was a product of a very high performance standard, my own overestimation of my capacity, a poor match of teaching and learning styles between instructor and student, and a variety of logistical factors that were beyond my control.

My single best class wasn't easy at all, but it was well within my capacity, I understood what the class WAS before I got there, the instructor was excellent and the pace manageable, and all the logistics worked (including two very good buddies).

So what was YOUR hardest class, and what made it that way?

Easy ... the U.C. Berkeley Research Diving Course. We were responsible for all the information in the U.S. Navy Diving Manual (at the time) and the skills in the pool and open water were often designed to be "Kobayashi Maru" (or "Space Invaders' if you prefer) ... exercises with endless top that no matter how good, or what shape you were in, you were going to eventually fail.

Divemaster because I went into it not knowing how to swim. By the time it was over I had developed a very crude but working method that got me passed

I've only taken a few classes--OW, AOW, Nitrox all from the same PADI instructor, drysuit informally without a card from a NAUI instructor, and UTD Essentials.

I'll be a bit different from those who've already posted and say for me the hardest was OW. I went in expecting it to be really easy. After all, all kinds of people get scuba certified and I'd never known anybody who had trouble doing so. The classroom sessions went fine. Having read the book, the tests were a joke. The pool sessions were another story. Basically, I'd go to work for 8+ hours all day, grab a quick dinner then head to the classroom portion for a couple hours. After that, we'd head to the pool around 8:30 or 9pm for about 2 hours. I found it difficult to pay attention to demonstrations simply because I was exhausted from my long day. We had only had so much time in the pool to demonstrate all the necessary skills the necessary number of times. By the end, I'd be freezing because even a pool heated to 80F starts to feel cold without a wetsuit after a couple of hours. At one point, one instructor told me he didn't think I was going to make it, which I found really demotivating and depressing.

Fortunately, at the last pool session, things really started clicking for me. Not only did I do everything I needed to skills-wise, but the instructors started instead telling me how they were amazed that I'd managed to turn things around. The checkout dives went off without a hitch. Everybody seemed to be struggling more with getting cold in Puget Sound in a wetsuit in the winter than with anything else.

Looking back, what made it hard for me were mismatched expectations and my own problems with getting frustrated easily--both my fault. By the time I took UTD Essentials, I tried to be cognizant of these same limitations by going into that course with as few expectations as possible. When I'd get frustrated, I'd stop, think and defuse the situation. Essentials also has the luxury purely focusing on improving the student's diving as opposed to checking off a list of demonstrated skills. I felt that made it the best course I've taken so far, but I understand how that may not easily extend to an OW class where the goal is generally to certify students on their way to some tropical destination where travel has already been booked.

I am sure the hardest class I have ever taken is going to be the Fundies Class I am starting today with Errol Kaylaci and Bob sherwood. When I was certified NAUI in 72, it felt like I already knew all the material, and already had each of the skills from watching Sea Hunt and Cousteu etc....it was just EASY. Most of my real learning, was just from diving with very good divers, and picking stuff up from them through the years....ultimately this got to the mentoring by George Irvine as I got into tech diving with him and his WKPP buddies.....
Now, there will be a precise format, and a great deal of material.....I expect it will be a lot like going back to college...

The real issue is "what I may be able to get from the class"....From Fundies --from Bob and Errol, I expect to gain more "tools" to add to my arsenal.....As I shoot underwater video for a living now, anything I can do to make my shots better is going to be valuable to me.....If this GUE team process can get Sandra , Bill and myself to be able to do bigger adventure dives more safely ( accent on getting Sandra safe here--she has no tech background) , then this will translate in to much better stills for SFDJ. It could mean better comunication u/w between Bill and myself, and this could help my shots as well.
I "think" my bouyancy and trim is already optimal, and certainly this is helpful in shooting video---we will see if Errol thinks so
For most divers, the open water courses they took, or the advanced ow, or nitrox, etc., NEVER really addressed making them a better diver...the courses for the masses typically offer some new knowledge, and the skills provided are shown, rarely perfected. Bouyancy and trim are the elements of this that have gotten the most press in the last year, but propulsion is a big issue as well, and one sadly NOT optimized in most divers....
As my class progresses, I will look for other areas I think could have value to the normal new or long time diver.

Also, I should add that Errol is going to be doing many classes with Bob in South Florida over the next few months....so anyone interested should contact him....I'd be happy to pass on his contact info.
Another perk to these Fundie classes is the ease of getting into Project Baseline dives, and events like the Race to the Bottom of the Sea ( the sub video Day 1 Triton Sub Trials...from Race to the Bottom of the Sea project - YouTube -- this one with a good music track !)

danvolker:

I am sure the hardest class I have ever taken is going to be the Fundies Class I am starting today with Errol Kaylaci and Bob sherwood. When I was certified NAUI in 72, it felt like I already knew all the material, and already had each of the skills from watching Sea Hunt and Cousteu etc....it was just EASY. Most of my real learning, was just from diving with very good divers, and picking stuff up from them through the years....ultimately this got to the mentoring by George Irvine as I got into tech diving with him and his WKPP buddies.....Now, there will be a precise format, and a great deal of material.....I expect it will be a lot like going back to college...The real issue is "what I may be able to get from the class"....From Fundies --from Bob and Errol, I expect to gain more "tools" to add to my arsenal.....As I shoot underwater video for a living now, anything I can do to make my shots better is going to be valuable to me.....If this GUE team process can get Sandra , Bill and myself to be able to do bigger adventure dives more safely ( accent on getting Sandra safe here--she has no tech background) , then this will translate in to much better stills for SFDJ. It could mean better comunication u/w between Bill and myself, and this could help my shots as well. I "think" my bouyancy and trim is already optimal, and certainly this is helpful in shooting video---we will see if Errol thinks so For most divers, the open water courses they took, or the advanced ow, or nitrox, etc., NEVER really addressed making them a better diver...the courses for the masses typically offer some new knowledge, and the skills provided are shown, rarely perfected. Bouyancy and trim are the elements of this that have gotten the most press in the last year, but propulsion is a big issue as well, and one sadly NOT optimized in most divers....As my class progresses, I will look for other areas I think could have value to the normal new or long time diver.Also, I should add that Errol is going to be doing many classes with Bob in South Florida over the next few months....so anyone interested should contact him....I'd be happy to pass on his contact info.Another perk to these Fundie classes is the ease of getting into Project Baseline dives, and events like the Race to the Bottom of the Sea ( the sub video Day 1 Triton Sub Trials...from Race to the Bottom of the Sea project - YouTube -- this one with a good music track !)

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I was luckily enough to take Bob's GUE-F and it's an eye opening experience.

Trace Malinowski PSAI International Training Director has really pushed me over the years. Maybe not one single class but after he feels I'm ready he starts to push me till I mess up. It could be valve failures, missing masks, OPV valve gone missing (how does that happen), missing gas, etc. Not only does it come at you fast but many at the same time. The last one that messed me up and it's kind of silly was valve drills with a flooded mask. Now according to him I can do demonstration quality drills with a mask or even no mask at all. Flood it and it became clear that it was an issue for me. After that I spent a few dives with a folded mask to reduce that feeling and it helped me over come it. Strange how sometimes the little things mess you up the most. He has always in every class searched for weekness and when he finds it helps you over come it! I would rather have problems in class then on a real dive.

My first Fundies class. What made it hard was a combination of things ... new equipment, a bad dive buddy, unrealistic expectations, and long days.

I switched over to a new rig that I put together the night before the class started. Lesson learned ... get a few dives on a piece of gear before expecting performance out of it.

I was part of a three person buddy team. Lamont was one buddy, and although he was a very new diver at the time, he was an excellent dive buddy. The other guy was a nightmare ... he was the only person in class wearing doubles, and clearly couldn't handle them. He swam around constantly ... unable to hold still ... literally bumping into myself or Lamont while we were trying to do anything. The dude was a serious distraction. Lesson learned ... choose your dive buddies carefully.

Expectations ... I went into the class with over 900 dives and a pretty high impression of my own skills. And then reality set in ... :shocked2: Furthermore, even on the things that I could do well, the instructor wasn't gonna let me skate. If I reached the bar too easily, he simply raised the bar. Lesson learned ... overconfidence can be worse than underconfidence.

Long days ... Brando tried squeezing a full Fundies curriculum into 2-1/2 days ... which wore me out. Friday's class started at 6 PM and went till 11. We were back at it at 8 AM the next day and class went till around 9 PM. Then on Sunday we went from 7 AM till around 1 PM ... when he had to leave to catch a flight back home. The pace was fast, there was little time to absorb anything, and if you stumbled you got left behind.

I came out of the class seriously disillusioned about both my abilities and the value of a class that had come highly touted. A year later I took it again with Joe Talavera and had a completely different ... and far more positive ... experience.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)