An Essay for Divers Two:

Scuba Diving’s Magnificent Effects on my MATES Education and my Life

     At the very moment I took my first breath scuba diving out in open water, I knew my world had changed forever. Not only is there a world inside one’s school, home, or out in parks, forests, and play grounds, there is also a richly unique, diverse, and beautiful world in the deep lakes, rivers and oceans just outside of the world we usually travel. The latter world is an underwater place, which one can only truly be immersed in through the wonderful pleasure of scuba diving. Traveling to and exploring this new world with my friends at Divers Two has forever reshaped my education, my anticipated profession, and most importantly and drastically my personal life and enjoyment.

     At the Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science (MATES) the science curriculum is centered largely on marine and aquatic biological and ecological studies. Scuba diving is the only real opportunity to provide one’s self with the chance to experience hands on the spectacular creatures and environments of our studies. An aquarium keeps aquatic life locked in a tank 10 or 15 feet away from people, not even allowing one to see an animal in its real habitat. Scuba diving submerses one directly into the habitat of the creatures of study and lets one observer up close how the animal lives, feeds, and interacts with the real organisms and environment around it. Only scuba diving can enhance the learning experience in a way that is so truly exciting and enjoyable.

     The experience of scuba diving lasts a lifetime and opens up many professional career opportunities for one’s future. There are commercial jobs that range from underwater construction and maintenance to search, salvage, and recovery jobs along with a plethora of other similar careers that exist in any type of open water imaginable. Apart from some of these more obvious careers, scuba diving has personally given me access to a wide variety of other career fields. Side-by-side with the studies of MATES is the idea of doing one’s own incredible biological and ecological research for the sake of science. Without scuba diving I would never have been able to dream of researching and understanding advanced and complicated ecosystems off shore and devising ways to protect them as well as use their resources wisely and efficiently to better our world. Using submarine scuba related technology I would explore deep uncharted waters and find new life forms and ecosystems. Thanks to scuba diving being my key to an unimaginably unique future career, these ideas and options, far fetched to some, are sitting right at my future’s doorsteps.

     The most important impact of scuba diving is how it affects one in a personal way. Today and in my future, scuba diving will always be one of my most unique and exhilarating hobbies. No other activity will ever match up to the never ending opportunity for exploration and discovery at a physical and spiritual level that scuba diving offers. The very vast and distinct worlds that I will be able to immerse myself in throughout the rest of my life will forever be a physically relaxing and emotional escape from the world I live in as I write this. Scuba diving offers a never ending expanse of knowledge and excitement to indulge in for personal pleasure.

     The effect scuba diving has had on my life is more significant than most other events in my lifetime. It has supplemented my education by expanding the area from which I can draw a wealth of knowledge from as well as making my education substantially more entertaining and exciting. It has opened countless doors of future careers for me that would have otherwise been entirely unattainable. Last, scuba diving has opened to me one of my personally most enjoyable hobbies that will entertain and excite me for the rest of my life to come.

Scuba diving is an extraordinary experience that changes the lives of its participants. Anyone who dives will talk about the exhilarating rush of being able to breathe underwater and explore the ocean’s many secrets. Diving can only have a positive influence on my experience at MATES, opening up a world once unavailable and mysterious to me.

            As its name states, MATES is a marine biology school. Diving provides the opportunity to observe the creatures being studied at a more personal level, giving me a better understanding of how the numerous animals interact in their natural environment. To learn a subject or concept from text books, can be limiting.  There’s no equal to getting hands on experience.  Diving allows one to gain that experience. Scuba diving has the potential to take my education to a whole new level.

 I have always been fascinated by animals, and have enjoyed the adventures of exploring their environments and habitats. Up until now, though, I have only been able to see animals that make land their home, and not the multitude of species that thrive under water. With diving I can now see that missing element and the way that its inhabitants behave in their natural environment. It’s like a whole new world has been opened for me and I now have twice the excitement, twice the adventure. I feel as if it’s Christmas morning and there is a load of presents next to the tree waiting to be unwrapped. I have an entire new world to explore and see in its natural state. 

            One may think of scuba as just a dive into a large puddle of water. Others think of scuba as a gateway to another world; a world filled with exotic life and mysteries. Scuba is a very important factor in the education of youth all across the globe. In my MATES education, scuba will and already has aided in furthering my knowledge of aquatic life and aspects.