On Tuesday, October 7th, I had the pleasure of attending the Scuba Certification Course interest meeting. The meeting, sponsored by Atlantic Divers, was created to interest students who were either looking to become scuba certified for the first time, or who wanted to refresh their certification. Being a first-time scuba diver, I did not know what to expect, but I was extremely interested in diving and wanted to see what would be expected of me.

Upon arriving at Big Blue, I realized that there was only one other attendee, which made the meeting more comfortable, as the dive instructor, Jean, was able to answer all of our individual questions. Jean was very warm and patient, answering all of our questions and addressing all of our concerns. Unfortunately, I was not informed that I was supposed to pay my deposit, preferably before the interest meeting. While this was a minor setback, and would have been easily fixed by depositing as soon as possible, it still would have been helpful to know this information prior to the meeting. I found out about this event via a flier which said that the cost was five-hundred and twenty dollars. On top of that, there were extra (albeit reduced) fees for essential gear. The deposit, I later found out, was fifty dollars.

I was pleased to know that a majority of my surf gear was useful for the dive certification (i.e. wetsuit and booties), but the costs were too much for me at the time. Luckily, Jean will be teaching another course in the spring 2015 semester. I felt very well-informed at the interest meeting, despite the lack of information regarding the deposit, and the instructor was very helpful with everything I needed. I hope I will have the time and money to continue this course in the upcoming semester, as it is nearly vital for my Marine Science major.