PADI IDC - day 3 report (not a good day)
Firstly, I’ve got to start with a correction. My Course Director confirmed today the reason why I lost marks in my confined water presentation. I wasn’t marked down because I couldn’t work out what a student had done wrong; I lost a mark because I didn’t tell a student to remember not to make the same mistake after shaking their hand. Now that all that’s cleared up, onto today’s events.
Well, to describe today you can probably just insert your own expletive, but make sure it’s a strong one. Yesterday was a nice confidence builder, yet I’ve come home today feeling pretty dejected and disappointed in myself. This afternoon I was given the Alternate Air Source confined water skill from Confined Water dive 1. Yesterday one of my friends did the skill and she made a mistake and ended up getting only 1 point for it - a mistake I was determined not to make. Instead of going last this time, I volunteered to go first and try to set the standard pretty high. Just as I was about to begin I turned to my certified assistant and said “I’m the receiver (of the AAS), right?”. He replied with “No. Other way around”. That completely threw me and just as he said it the Course Director told me to start the presentation. Doubts came into my mind about my demonstration of the skill, so I performed it being the donor of air, but still explaining what the students should do. Did the same underwater and then did student evaluations. I managed to spot their problems, correct them etc, and did the debriefing pretty much perfectly. Then it was time to receive my review.
I was told that because I wasn’t the receiver of the air supply, it constituted me not being able to perform the skill at all and therefore I could only get a 1 out of 5, regardless of how good everything else was. I was absolutely gutted and annoyed with myself. It was a stupid mistake I made because I wasn’t 100% sure of my ability and trusted someone else. If I make a mistake like that in the Instructor Exam then I can kiss my chances of becoming an instructor goodbye. It was a simple thing, but I messed it up and failed that evaluation because of it. I know it’s easy to say that I should learn from it (which I certainly will do), but I only really have 1 chance in the IE. So for the rest of the pool session I was just fuming about what I’d done. I’ve got to get these mistakes out of my system, and think I’m going to try and get access to a pool during my day off (the day after tomorrow). Then I can rent a tank, get in, and spend the day going over skills again and again until they are so ingrained, I will be pretty much flawless. I’ve put too much money and effort into this to fail at the final hurdle.
The morning’s presentation on Decompression Sickness went quite well, with me getting 5 out of 5. I feel like I’ve got a pretty solid lesson plan template in place, and will just change it slightly depending on what topic I’ve got to talk about. So I’m not too worried about those presentations any more - they are my speciality, after all. But I do have renewed nerves about doing my open water presentations tomorrow, and we’ve got 2 of them to do. First of all, I’ve no real idea what to expect regarding the visibility/current etc. Plus this afternoon’s events have put a big dent in my confidence, but not my determination. I’ve got to pick mysef up from today and come back stronger tomorrow. If I can’t do that then I may as well go home now. I’ve also got my 4 diving theory exams tomorrow morning, which I really need to pass to put me back on track with everything in my head.
Not too much else to report for today. Tonight’s going to be an evening of study and reflection about what’s happened. Tomorrow’s a new day with new challenges, and I’ve got to be ready for them. Thanks for reading this entry. Take care and dive safely.
PADI IDC - Two days in…
The first two days of my PADI IDC are now a thing of the past, and I have to say they’ve been pretty pleasing so far. There is a lot to learn, and the quality level required is very high, but it’s been challenging rather than overwhelming. Who knows what the next 11 days will bring, but I’m hoping they will be as successful as these first two.
Yesterday was an introduction to the IDC and the PADI system. A lot of it was general PADI marketing stuff, but it’s things that we’ll need to know if we’re going to be successful in the dive industry. Being a skilled instructor is one thing, but if nobody comes to you and you can’t sell your courses, then you’re not going to be a successful one. These first few days have got me thinking about the kind of company that I’d like to join. The one great thing about the military diving shops in Okinawa is that they (and their instructors) don’t overly push their continuing education courses onto the dive students. I’ve never worked in sales and don’t fancy the prospect of doing it too much, but I’m probably going to have to if I want to maximise the chances of being employed. Not sure if Thailand is the place for me though. It seems a nice place, the food is good and the prices are cheap, but there’s something about it that I can’t put my finger on. Maybe when I get out diving in some better conditions my opinion will change, or maybe it’s just that I feel such a strong connection to Okinawa and life there… But that’s all a long way ahead of me; I’ve got presentations, demonstrations and exams to pass before I can think about getting employed as a dive instructor.
PADI IDC prep finished - bring on the real thing!
OK - the fun and games of the IDC preparation course are out of the way here in Koh Samui. Tomorrow the real business begins, with the first day of the IDC. Am looking forward to it and raring to get stuck into it. I feel that today went pretty well, and it’s given me a nice little confidence boost going into the next 14 days of tests, lectures and assessments. I did the four remaining mock exams today (physiology, the dive environment, dive equipment, and the RDP/Wheel). I got 90%, 100%, 100% and 95%, and so was pretty stoked with that. But these exams count for nothing at all, and I’ve got to pass them all again twice before I can even think about getting my instructors licence. Then I’ve got knowledge presentations and skill demonstrations/evaluations to do, and that’s all before the Instructor Exam itself.
PADI IDC Prep course - Day 1
Well, I have officially finished the first day of being a PADI Instructor Development Course candidate. Have to say it’s been pretty good too. I woke this morning feeling really nervous about things and what was to come. It wasn’t helped by an introduction to the course, stating what you need to pass and what should happen if you fail certain parts of the course. Am in no mood to be having retakes of tests, and will do everything to assure that I won’t be doing them.
Today is not actually the IDC proper, but a 2-day pre-IDC preparation course. It’s designed to get you ready for the IDC so you can get straight into things when the start (on Saturday). The morning was spent doing paperwork, introductions and then the physics exam. There are 7 people doing the IDC and everyone has a very different background, from professional videographers to a candidate pretty much straight out of uni, doing this before starting grad school. We all gave our personal introductions and then had an introduction to the PADI system and the IDC and IE. Our IDC will take place over 10 days (with a rest day in the middle of the course), and then if we are successful we’ll move to Koh Tao for 3 days, where we’ll do out Instructor Examination. With a lot of work, and a bit of luck, I should be a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor on August 17th. And then I start the speciality courses and the EFR instructor course.
The physics test went impressively well, and I got 95% in that one. Shame it wasn’t assessed, but it’s nice to start off like that. If I get the same score in all my other tests I’ll be over the moon. But this IDC-prep course is the place to make the silly mistakes. The IDC and IE are not places where I should be making silly mistakes. We were also told today what presentations we will have to make during the IDC. I left the paper at the classroom today, but will report back tomorrow and let you know what they all are.
This afternoon we did a full skill circuit, doing all 20 confined water skills. They went pretty well, except for a couple. I messed up on the weightbelt removal and replacement at the surface (one of the easier skills) but getting my gauge caught under the belt. Should have just run my hand around the belt after fastening it again and I wouldn’t have failed that skill. And I made a couple of mistakes on the simulated rescue. But we’ll be doing that every day, and every day I WILL get better and I’ll practise all night if needs be to get as good as I need to pass.
There’s not too much else to report for now, so I’ll go. It will be a relatively relaxing evening, with only a little study tonight I think. I’ll report back very soon though with another update on my progress. Dive safely, and take care.