November has ended with something special. Twenty-two years ago, on the weekend following Thanksgiving, I certified as a PADI Open Water Diver at Blue Lake, Utah. This past weekend I had the pleasure of certifying my 10 year-old daughter, Kona Rusho, as a PADI Open Water Diver.
Kona Rusho logging her dives at the end of her PADI Open Water Diver Course
It’s taken us a good amount of time to get here. We started two years ago with the PADI Bubblemaker program and then the PADI Seal Team. We’ve had a few pool scuba sessions since then. Then, this summer we started back in with the academics and more pool sessions. I found that as an instructor, it can be really hard to teach family. I also found that there are a lot of games I’ve used in Bubblemaker and Seal Team sessions that make a PADI Open Water Diver course a lot more fun–for my students and for me. Kona didn’t just stop at Open Water Diver, though. Since we were diving at the Crater in Midway, Utah, we were diving at altitude. So, we added one more dive and she is now a PADI Altitude Diver as well. Congrats, Kona!
Looking forward, what’s next? I’m hoping to complete a PADI Sidemount scuba course in the next couple of weeks with Chris Langehaug. Chris has come a long way in the last two years. When we first met, he was just looking for the next step as a recreational diver. Before the end of that year, he was a PADI Open Water Scuba Instructor, Master Scuba Diver Trainer and an IDC Staff Instructor. Now he’s the Director of Tec diving at Dive Utah, where we both teach. Chris will probably also be helping with the next PADI Instructor Development Course at Dive Utah.
The next PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC) will be January 3-11, 2013 at Dive Utah (Holladay). It’s shaping up to be a great program. Chris Langehaug will be conducting a Sidemount orientation, I’m adding a PADI Kids workshop and we’ll have the usual extras: Project AWARE workshop, Business of Diving, PADI Emergency Oxygen Instructor course, etc. At the end of the week, we’ll also have an Emergency First Response Instructor course. All of this to prepare our candidates for the PADI Instructor Exam on January 12 & 13 at the Crater & Homestead Resort to become PADI Open Water Scuba Instructors.
Feel free to contact me if you’ve any questions about scuba diving, becoming a scuba instructor or cpr/first aid instructor, teaching, etc. To see more about upcoming courses, click on the Go Pro Schedule.
Safe Diving!
–jon