Wiping her brow, she says, "Whew. That's over."
I'm too wiped to write much.
1. I could have written the evaluation at the end of the class before the class started. I pretty much knew where I was weak, and there were no surprises.
2. A three person team with a grand total of 84 dives among them (60 of those mine) is going to have trouble with Fundies skills.
3. Steve White has an enviable ability to deliver accurate and critical feedback in a completely matter-of-fact, nonjudgmental way.
4. Video cameras are merciless. The best you can hope for is that the videographer will get distracted by a completely bizarre sea creature flapping its ears through the course and forget to film whatever disaster you are currently involved with (happened!)
5. People who do things well enough that the only thing the instructor can find to criticize is that their car keys are hanging out of their pocket should be very pleased.
6. Sorry to say this, but Jet fins DO make a difference. A BIG difference. A HUGE difference. Put mine on and presto -- frog kicks, modified frog kicks, a little bit of back kick, and almost a helicopter turn. I had the idea. I didn't have the equipment.
7. My husband asked me, "So what did you learn that made it worth the misery you went through to take this class?" My answer: The kicks alone would have been worth taking the class. Second to the kicks were the lessons in buddy awareness. Not just "Where is my buddy?", but, "How is my buddy doing? Do both my buddies know what we are doing? Is everybody's equipment as it should be? Is anybody having a problem, and do I need to corral the other team member to go help?" Despite my near obsession with buddy awareness, this was one of the specific deficiencies identified on my evaluation -- sigh. Had I not had Bob and Scubaboard, I would have gotten more from the classroom materials, which are excellent if you have not seen them before.
If you dive the way they taught us, you will have a thorough dive planning process, predive evaluation and equipment check, a buddy TEAM for your dive, and constant feedback from your dive buddies on how you are diving and where you can improve.
In my personal opinion, this class was well worthwhile. It would have been more enjoyable had some of my skills been more solid before going into it, but I did come away, I think, with the building materials to reinforce everything that was weak.
We'll see. I got a provisional by the skin of my teeth, and in doing so, I committed to the work and practice necessary to bring all the deficient areas up to snuff.
Bob, when are we diving?
