Happy New Year everyone! Recently, I have spent a lot of time at TDI/ SDI Headquarters (also known as International Training, Inc.) in Stuart, Florida, USA and it has been really fun! Here I was able to spend time with Chief Operating Officer, Stephanie Miele, the President & CEO, Brian Carney, as well as all the amazing staff at HQ.
While I was here, I was able to become a First Response CPR & First Aid Instructor through First Response Training International, a basic free diver through Performance Freediving International, a Divemaster and Open Water Scuba Diver Instructor through Scuba Diving International, and overall elevate my skillset, in and out of the water. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to build my resume and professional certifications in diving.
SDI Open Water Scuba Instructor Training
Starting off strong, I jumped into my IDC. It was a week full of practicing presentations, a variety of lectures, and learning how to effectively teach. I am still getting a handle on presenting to people, no matter how big or small the crowd, and this was the perfect opportunity to work on it! I was able to practice presentation techniques from verbal lectures and in-water skill demonstrations to assessing skills of students and providing appropriate feedback.
I have been scuba diving for a little over two years now and as I am building up my experience and gaining more certifications, I like to make sure I keep up with diving concepts. I have previously struggled with physics concepts in the past so I am always a little nervous when discussing it. But learning to present on these topics, learn about them further, and teach them to others greatly reduced that nervousness. I feel like a much more confident diver for it.
We often learn by teaching. I was grateful for the opportunity to hone my own skills to effectively communicate and demonstrate skills for students.
I am hoping that with this certification in the future, I can work towards making open water scuba diving more accessible for people interested in seeing the ocean in a new way. I especially want to support diverse populations and increase access to the marine sciences by providing entry-level scuba training.
First Response CPR & First Aid Instructor Training
During my time here I was also able to become a First Response CPR & First Aid Instructor.
I have been CPR & First Aid certified since I was sixteen years old and I finally wanted to take that extra leap to be able to instruct and certify others in it. This certification also consisted of a lot of lectures and presentations. By the end of it, I was confidently presenting on first aid & safety topics for a variety of situations. (I also loved time with the dogs in the office during my study breaks).
PFI Freediving Training
The final thing I was able to accomplish during my time with International Training, Inc. was my Basic Freediver course! I have made attempts at freediving in the past with very little knowledge of the safety and exercises that should be done within the sport, so this was something I really wanted to change. I was also eager to receive this certification as I thought it could be helpful for future scientific research. We only had two days to focus on this course but in that short time frame, I learned:
- The important breathing cycles that need to be done before & after a dive
- How to freedive effectively and safely
- I can hold my breath for at least 3 minutes and 9 seconds
- Taking a proper peak inhalation is harder than I thought
Overall, after getting all this work done at SDI/ TDI headquarters, I am feeing more confident in my skills as a diver and instructor. I am hoping to build up this confidence as I continue throughout my scholarship year and beyond.
Thank you so much to everyone at International Training Inc Headquarters, especially to Stephanie Miele and Brian Carney for welcoming me, as a well as Brian Shreve for the amazing training. I had a great time developing more as a professional, gaining skills as a diver, and learning more about the dive industry.
Thank you to the Our World Underwater Scholarship Society and our sponsor Rolex for making this scholarship experience a possibility. I would also like to thank Reef Photo and Video, Nauticam and Light and Motion for my underwater camera setup as well as Aqualung, Fourth Element, Suunto, Halcyon, and DUI for my diving equipment.
