Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood.

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Some times in life you wonder about the decisions you made. Then there are times you question yourself if the right choice were made and before long you are overwhelmed with all the ‘what ifs’.

It wasn’t too long ago I decided to take up my divemaster’s course. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but ultimately I yearned to see people learn new skills and overcome their fear of trying new things. I remembered when I first started my Open Water course, I had my fears but it was very well hidden or so I thought. The very first dive into the ocean, descending 6 meters deep… I’ve never been that deep; the deepest I went was 2.4 meters in the swimming pool! But the gentle assurance from the divemasters and instructors along the dive kept me going. To a very new diver, they always knew what to do, situations are always in their control and like a parent teaching their child how to walk, they knew when to let go and when to hold us up.

Having been in the teaching industry since I graduated, I knew how it felt when students benefit from what you taught or overcome certain obstacles with your guidance. And that was what draws me to the divemaster’s course. Not to bask under the glory of being a dive professional, but to enjoy the satisfaction of helping people, if not, someone to overcome what he/she thought was impossible. This has never been truer, until I took this group of divers for their confined pool session.

They were each from all walks of life, unique in their characteristics but there was one thing that brought them together; the courage to overcome. Faced with their individual fear, I witness the transformation from panicky divers in the swimming pool to confident divers out in the open sea.

I would never forget how they held on to my dear hand in the swimming pool, their fear in their eyes, the discomfort they felt, how we had to talk them through to head back to the session and looked at them straight in the eyes and said, “you can do it!”. It was a challenging group and initially I had my concerns on them heading out to complete their course in the open sea. But they proved me wrong. As I waited anxiously for their return after the weekend trip, not knowing what was the outcome… I was greeted with jovial declarations of “I’m a diver now!” with their faces all beaming with proud satisfaction. It was such joy to see all of them had enjoyed the trip and planning for more dive trips to come! On the other hand, I have never felt so proud for a group of divers before.

I felt like I’ve been part of a blockbuster movie of overcoming fear. Though I was not in the main cast, but playing a small part of it reassured me of the reasons why I went on the professional path in recreational diving. If someone were to ask me what was the best thing that I have encountered so far from taking up the divemaster’s course… It’s not the sharks I’ve seen, the huge bumphead parrotfishes that crossed my path or the number of trips I’ve been on… it is this group of divers who made the impossible, possible.

Like what Eugene would always tell me, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…”  And I know this is just the beginning of my journey on becoming a dive professional.

*Article written by Divemaster Grace Loo