Like many Baby Boomers, I was the first in my family to never know what life was like without a TV. One show I loved was Sea Hunt, about a freelance dive expert for hire. I became fascinated with scuba diving way back in the day.
But, alas, I developed poor eyesight and began wearing glasses in the 4th grade. By the time I got contact lenses, I had become legally blind (20/200 vision) without corrective lenses. So much for my diving dreams. I knew I could get corrective lenses for my mask but I had a great fear of losing my contacts or glasses while on a dive. When I say I was legally blind, I mean all I saw without my contacts or glasses were blurs.
My contacts arrested my deteriorating eye sight but as I entered middle age, my eye doctor told me I would need bi-focal contacts. To a Baby Boomer, ‘Bi-Focals’ meant OLD people. I was having none of that!
“What about this RK surgery people have to correct their eyesight?” I asked.
“I think you’d be a good candidate for that,” he replied.
So, I went under the knife twice for each eye. Once to begin the process and then to tweak the remaining vision. Please remember that this was before Lasik.
After 25 years, I still wake up each day amazed at how well I can see. My eyes have changed with age so I am actually a bit far sighted in the morning but still have near 20/20 for most of the day.
No excuse not to Scuba Dive! I found LDC and as they say, the rest is History.
Being a teacher, I had the summer months off and with a camper down at Sandbridge, I looked forward to doing more than just sitting on the beach waiting for school to begin. I got into diving with a vengeance.
My instructor just happened to also be the Scuba Camp instructor at the time so I began assisting her while I achieved my Dive Con/Assistant Instructor certification. Fast forward four years and the Scuba Camp had seen five different instructors and one Dive Con. Guess who at last stepped up to fill the role of Scuba Camp Instructor.
The only regret I have is that I wished I had faced my fears over my eyesight and began diving earlier. I have taught more than one student who wears glasses or contacts. I am jealous that they will have many more years of scuba diving adventures than I gave myself. But I am grateful I took the plunge.
Many parents asked me how I could teach school during the year and turn around and teach Scuba Camp during the summer.
It is not the same.
I loved teaching history to my Special Population and I loved having the students come back for a visit after they graduated but nothing has given me more satisfaction as a teacher than being able to share my love of diving and sharing their diving adventures with my Scampers.
“That was AWESOME,” is a common shout from the campers after just their first dive in the Lake.
“That wasn’t awesome,” one student offered after his first dive. “That was EPIC!”
Go ahead. Ask me why I do this. I may now be retired from teaching public school and living in Virginia Beach but I am far from being retired from teaching.