Lucas v2

Splash. I think someone put glue in my wetsuit. It’s sticking to my back in the hot sun, and the pool water was looking more appealing every second. Nice and cold like an ice cold lemonade on a hot summer day. It was summer after all, but I probably shouldn’t drink the chlorine. My friend and his sisters, one older and one younger, are with me. All of us here to get our diving cards. Even in the sun, the pool was still very cold. The wetsuits did little to keep us warm, but that was fine. The regulator was wonderful. Being able to breathe underwater, I was practically a fish.

One week before. "Ugh. I have to complete this entire course by the end of the week?”

"Or else you can't go diving with the Deweys, that's right.”

The entire course consisted of chapters of readings and videos per each topic, and a test to take at the end of each one. You had to make it through each topic of each section to get to the final test, and if you didn't pass you couldn't go out with an instructor and complete skills to get your card. A long and demanding process of studying that I had to complete during the school week was ahead of me. My legs bounced with anticipation.

The first chapters were easy enough. Just the introduction and quick reminders and facts that helped build your diving knowledge. When descending down under the water, you hold onto a line attached from seafloor to buoy to keep you steady as you go down. Every 5 feet descending or so you need to relieve the pressure in your mask, ears, and nose. Do so by popping your ears. You'll have to pop your ears every so often down there cuz pressure, and you don't want to feel like your ears are about to blow off. Or actually have them do. Like when you

On top of the 6 hours of school a day and PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) diving Elearning course, I still had homework. If you have ever done ReadingPlus, then I share your pain. They are not fun. ReadingPlus is the physical and spiritual embodiment of all things evil. You have to read a various amount of articles a week (I only have heard of having 3 and 4), then answer questions based on what you read. If you got 75% or less then you failed, and need to do another one to get credit. Doesn’t sound so bad, right? Wrong. The articles are so boring, and they hurt my mental, physical, and spiritual body.

I've been talking too much. I'm running out of time. Too much work, too many Youtube videos. I have a whole section left to do, and only a day before I go out to the dive shop. My palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy, (vomit on my sweater already (mom’s spaghetti) but I'm moving through it. The screen glows a ghostly white. It singes my eyes and I have to keep turning down the brightness. So much for adaptive brightness.

It's a longer section, with more chapters. But I start skipping the videos, as they only seem to be recaps of what was already in the chapter. Redundant is what that is called. The entire section is finished. I’m on the final test. A butt-ton of multiple choice questions. I can't fail. Oh no... The first question, I forgot the answer. I'll have to guess (and cross my fingers). One out of fifty. If I score lower than 75%, I'll have to retake EVERYTHING, and start again. No going to the pool with the instructor. No taking the diving course with my friend. I would completely miss him and maybe not even get my dive card. My heart lurches. But my mind refocuses back onto that sickly screen of words and the PADI blue and red logo.

Next question. I know this one, easy. The next few are a breeze. I'm speeding through them. Maybe a couple hard ones here and there. Fifty questions is nothing. Finally, I reach the last one. Nothing special, no need to write a 3 page essay on how to put your mask on underwater. I answer and hit submit... I got, 74%..... Just kidding! I got 90 something, with only a few questions wrong!

My arms shoot up into the air. I had won, and I could finally breathe. The air tastes like victory and sweat. It's past my bedtime, but I'm pleased. Tomorrow I’ll get to hop in the pool and do some scuba stuff. I hope I don't forget everything I studied!