Update
I finished the rest of pool three and all of pool four last night and it was awesome! All of the staff continues to impress me, the quality of instruction is excellent, and the whole process has been a lot of fun so far. I'm starting to feel like I'm getting the hang of the very basics and every time I put on the gear my comfort in it (and the water) improves.
My left ear is bothering me a little - I feel like I am working very hard to keep it equalized on the way down, although once I am at the bottom of the pool it does feel better. It's very similar to flying. On airplanes, it drives me crazy during the takeoff and landing but calms down once the plane has reached its cruising altitude. Every time I made a descent, I'd have to stop and ascend a bit at least once.
My instructor did give me a good tip however - to tuck my chin down while equalizing - and it seems to help a little. They are aware that I've ruptured before and have all been really cool about helping me work with it. I consider it a huge win that I was to do several descents and ascents to the deep end without any problems or pain, even if it was really slow! I am very relieved and feel much more confident that the ear will not end up being a roadblock to diving.
Overall really super happy with how it went!
I will be finishing the final two pool sessions this week and then hopefully doing the ocean dives in May or June. I'm going to try to do as many as I can, as long as the NE water is tolerable, before Hawaii in late July/August. I just booked the first two dives - Molokini Crater off of Maui and a night dive with manta rays in Kona! I didn't know about Molokini, but as soon as I saw it I knew I had to go there... Has anyone on here been?
Also - I've been seeing a lot of stuff about drift diving in Hawaii as I do my research. It sounds really cool but I don't know anything about it skill-wise. Is drift diving safe for new divers?