Upon Review: 1st Week As A DMT

Hi all, since I got such good feedback from my last post about my first day as a Dive Master Trainee (DMT) I felt it would only be natural progression to move onto how my first week as a DMT went. This post won't be any candy coated truths, it may show some vulnerability on my part but that has been the function of the blog from the beginning. To be honest, to be truthful and to be open because it may just help one other person out there who could be struggling,  in a new job, in a new country or in an internship. Or maybe you can have a laugh at my expense too!
My first couple of days on my internship were interesting to say the least. Those who know me know that the line "if it can go wrong, it will go wrong" has a tendency to follow me around wherever I go and whatever I do. This couldn't be any truer than now. I've blown O rings out of cylinders, I've jammed a tank valve (although actually, that wasn't my fault, it just had to be attached to my BCD at the time.), I've forgotten extra weights, weight belts and to top it off, on one occasion where my mentor and myself were doing an introduction dive, guess who forgot to turn her air on. Yep. So I snorkeled the entire thing. So at this point I'm already in the minus brownie points. And my mentor has lost a considerable amount of hair in the last week.

However, everything that has happened has taught me how to do something new. I've learnt how to replace O rings, rig up tanks to the compressor to be filled, that a wrench is a perfectly good tool to use to jam your tank open so you can dive with it, I've memorised a checklist in my head like it's second nature so in the last three days I don't think I've forgotten anything (To my fellow Harry Potter nerds out there a rememberall would be fabulous round about now.) I've also gotten over my fear of snorkelling, Although I will always retain the fact I'm a scuba diver, not a snorkeller. Oh and now I have an overwhelming paranoia of making sure my air is on.

All of these things are only practical aspects but in the last week I have learnt a few things about myself, how I operate, how I work. This trip was never meant to be on of those "self-finding, tree-hugging, mud spa experiences", I knew it would be sun, sand and hard work but I guess when you take on endeavours like this you can't help but discover some things. I've known for the last 5 years I have been a hard worker but this last week I felt the mental and physical strain of burning the candle at both ends; so working in the day, then coming home and reading up on the theory side of things, sleeping and repeating that entire process. It wasn't until yesterday when by chance I ended up on the beach for 20 minutes after work and I jumped in and just enjoyed being in the water, not having to worry about timed swims, scuba kit or students. It's time to stop operating like a machine and start working smarter, not necessarily harder.

And I think I'm going to leave it there for this week folks, it's been a hard week and mentally draining so I'm going to enjoy my day off today, be lazy and recuperate. But enjoy this lovely quote below in my absence.