Florida Store Experience

July 22~July 27, 2008

When Patrick and Sherry told me the mentorship would give me the opportunity to visit the Florida store in Ft. Lauderdale I was so excited. My first impression of the store was "WOW." I couldn't believe I was even there. The first couple of days, I was diving for my advanced certification. I did 5 dives, naviagtion, deep, drift, photography, and fish ID. I loved them all. My very first dive, we dove with a couple of marine biologists with their students conducting their own research. I was in aw the entire time. Here I was standing 2 feet away from the people that are living my dream. I was able to get great advice and my excitement for marine biology grew even more. Ft. Lauderdale has beautiful reefs and the wreck I dove was amazing. It had been so long since I dove last that I forgot about how much I love being underwater.
While following employees in the shop, I learned how to fill tanks, take regulators apart and clean them, and how to keep customers interested. Just seeing a different layout of a dive store taught me so much. We made signs, moved product around, and I learned keeping product clean and presentable can make all the difference. The next day I got to work on the Hammertime! The florida stores dive boat. I wish I could have a summer job like that. I enjoyed every minute of working on the boat. Meeting the people, helping them with their gear, cleaning the gear after the dive was over, and just being on the other side of fence was neat. I've dove many charters and I just have a new respect for the dive masters, the captains, and crew that bring everything together for everyone to have a safe enjoyable dive.
I learned so much and had a lot of fun. I realized owning a dive shop is hard work no matter where you go. My very last day before I left to go back home we had some free time to spend on the beach. It was a great way to end the trip....remembering everything that had happened in the last week. It is something I will never forget.

<3 always and forever
Mermaidsdream