Should I get my OWSI/MSDT??

[crosseyed95]

I been thinking about getting my MSDT for awhile and I'm seriously looking into it. However, I'm nervous and not sure if it's worth it. However, I just got done with a post where someone asked about taking their DM so I though maybe you folks my give me some good input.

I'm currently a DM. I'm guaranteed enough work from the local LDS to pay for insurance, but I know I'm not going to get rich. My problem is that I don't want to ruin my hobby. I'm nervous that if I get my instructor rating that it will become a job.

My wife also dives and is considering getting her MSDT in the future and maybe when the kids move out we can semi-retire on a live-aboard or someplace south. However, she wouldn't take her MSDT for another year or so.

Question: Should I wait until my wife is ready and then take the IDC with her or take it right now??

Question: Has anyone had their hobby ruined because they have taken on to much "responsibility"?

Not sure what I'm looking for in responses and I know the above doesn't give you lots to work with but I could really use some input. It's a lot of money to spend.. NOTE: my local LDS says go for it and that I'd make a wonderful instructor but I just don't want to make a mistake...

Had Chinese last night and my fortune cookie said "Take the first step".. That's scary..

[WV Diver]

I am a DM and may go the IDC route someday. I know a lot of instructors and work with them regularly and have known some to get burnt out.

For myself I think I would take the MSDT avenue because it gets you into teaching more specialty courses to certified divers as opposed to always teaching OW to new students. A little more fun and a little less stress I would think.

They are always after me to get my instructor but it is expensive. I offered to do it if they paid for it. They said they could possibly do this for me but I would be required to teach x number of classes in return. I guess that is a fair enough deal. Now all I need is the time to do it and the money for the travel, they won't pay that part.

[crosseyed95]

Originally Posted by WV Diver

I am a DM and may go the IDC route someday. I know a lot of instructors and work with them regularly and have known some to get burnt out.

For myself I think I would take the MSDT avenue because it gets you into teaching more specialty courses to certified divers as apposed to always teaching OW to new students. A little more fun and a little less stress I would think.

They are always after me to get my instructor but it is expensive. I offered to do it if they paid for it. They said they could possibly do this for me but I would be required to teach x number of classes in return. I guess that is a fair enough deal. Now all I need is the time to do it and the money for the travel, they won't pay that part.

My local LDS also said they'd pay for it. However, like you I'd be "required" to teach so many classes. I wouldn't have a problem with this in the winter but we only have 3 to 5 months of primo diving (summer)here so I don't want to tie up my whole summer teaching. If I do it myself, I'm more in charge of my schedule. I could do a rescue class once a summer (this is where my LDS is weak) and maybe one specialty class. In the winter, I can pick up 1 or 2 open water classes.

I've got the money for my IDC and IE but if you are like me you don't have a money tree growing in the house..

I looked into a bigger training facility and have kind of settled on a smaller somewhat local IDC facility. I won't be in sunny Florida during training but I think I'll get more personal attention during class. Bad part about doing the local is that I then have to travel for my IE.

[WV Diver]

The travel part is the big expense where I am. I don't think my LDS would try to overload me with classes all at once (to get their money's worth). We only have one MSDT now, which is good for me, as I would rather teach more of the specialty classes. I like OW classes I just like the variety of teaching specailties.

How long will it take you to complete the process if all goes well? This is an issue with me, while I am not in a big hurry to get it done, I would like to maximize the amount of criteria I could accomplish thus minimzing my travel expenses.

[crosseyed95]

Originally Posted by WV Diver

The travel part is the big expense where I am. I don't think my LDS would try to overload me with classes all at once (to get their money's worth). We only have one MSDT now, which is good for me, as I would rather teach more of the specialty classes. I like OW classes I just like the variety of teaching specailties.

How long will it take you to complete the process if all goes well? This is an issue with me, while I am not in a big hurry to get it done, I would like to maximize the amount of criteria I could accomplish thus minimzing my travel expenses.

The IDC will take 8 days. The 5 specialities will take roughly 2 or 3 days (not 100% positive which 5 I want). The cool thing is that the instructor is very workable. I can do all of it at once or do it on weekends over 2 months. It is a 3 hour drive to get to the training but by doing on weekends I can limit taking vacation days and hotel. But doing all at once and then going right to the IE has a plus.

Another cool thing is that if I schedule, the instructor makes it his responsibility to get more students. If he can't, he'll run the class just for me and not cancel.

Are you nervous??

[WV Diver]

I'm not nervous, I haven't even decided to do it yet. I assume we a discussing PADI here. I would like to teach Nitrox, Drysuit, deep, night, cavern, S & R and Navigation. I know this is more than necessary but since nitrox doesn't even require diving I don't count it and I think you have to have a full cave cert to teach cavern so that would be a little further down the line. These are the most needed specailties in my area.

[freediver]

Ok, here goes. I went through the OWSI program in 1999. I knew I wanted to teach scuba for some reason....I just wasn't completely sure of the reason. My advice and please bear with me on this........if you want to become an OWSI because you want to teach scuba then you are a likely candidate for burnout. However, if you want to become an OWSI because you genuinely love the sport of scuba and you think you may be effective in imparting this knowledge and joy to others...then you're on the right track. If you find yourself getting burnt out, what's worse than how you'll suffer from this is how your students will suffer and fail to get the quality instruction that is needed today. I have not reached burn out but I am also very selective in who/when I teach.
Unfortunately, the process of becoming a scuba instructor does not place much emphasis on the factors of education, teaching styles, learning styles and strategies for each. To be an effective instructor is far more than reciting the information from the instructor manual. It's about communicating your love of scuba to someone who may never have experienced that same feeling. It's about the ability to help someone discover what they could do all along, you just have the opportunity to facilitate the experience.
If you pursue the OWSI, I personally would hold off on the MSDT route until you gain comfort at the OWSI level. When you establish a base of comfortable and confident OW divers, they will follow you, their instructor, to any specialties of interest.
Give it much thought.

[thesmoothdome]

I was initially certified in 1990. Racked up 150 or so dives in the first year as I pursued the sport with a passion. Graduated from college in 1991 at the same time I was finishing my DM coursework and soon enrolled in my IDC while working at a LDS. Quick? Hell yeah. Too quick? The PADI bashers would think so, but I was confident and comfortable in the water, a teacher by nature, and voracious for learning opportunities in the SCUBA field. I probably had about 200 dives or so by the time I passed my IE. Anyway, that's not really what this thread is about, but I figured I'd give you my background.

Once I graduated from college, I started working full time for my LDS and DMing at night, eventually teaching classes as well. After about 6 months of this, the owner and I had a falling out and realizing that I was never going to be rich teaching scuba, I moved to another shop to teach and decided to go back to school for my teaching credential. I worked at a middle school during the day, took classes at night and helped out the LDS on the weekends and any weekend I could. When I was wasn't taking classes, I was teaching classes for the LDS. I continued to teach for them in the evenings as I did my student teaching, pretty much working from 7am to 11pm on evenings that I had class or pool sessions, but scuba instruction was the only income I had at that time.

To make a long story short, after I earned my credential and started teaching full time, I continued to teach classes occassionally, but the hours were just too long and the demands too much for a new teacher. The last class I taught was in 1994 and even though I continued to dive for fun, I was BURNT OUT! By the end of 1996, I hung up my gear for good.

If I hadn't felt so under the gun to teach for the meager income it provided during my student teaching, I probably could have avoided the burn out, but as a result, I lost 10 good years of diving. No worries though, I'm back with a vengence now .

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[crosseyed95]

Originally Posted by thesmoothdome

To make a long story short, after I earned my credential and started teaching full time, I continued to teach classes occassionally, but the hours were just too long and the demands too much for a new teacher. The last class I taught was in 1994 and even though I continued to dive for fun, I was BURNT OUT! By the end of 1996, I hung up my gear for good.

If I hadn't felt so under the gun to teach for the meager income it provided during my student teaching, I probably could have avoided the burn out, but as a result, I lost 10 good years of diving. No worries though, I'm back with a vengence now .

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I didn't put it in my original post but one of the things I really worried about was "BURN OUT" and losing interest in the sport. I was a professional coach at one time in life and loved that sport. After several years of coaching, I can't even watch it on TV. I thought about your post for a little and have decided to wait another year and maybe reevaluate it at that time.