SCUBA Week – Day 1

by Caciques Jack Kempner and Mia Thomas

After a 6:00 AM wake up for Jack and me (Mia), blurry eyed and ready to go, we made it out of the dorm to put up the Bahaman Flag. Before we even had a chance to raise the infamous flag, the line broke, leaving us embarrassed after our first cacique duty.  Morning circle ended following a warm group hug to bid K1 and K2 a good journey on their kayak expeditions.  The rest of the SCUBA team headed out on a SCUBA psycho exercize, which was a prerequisite for the coming week.   The grueling working out consisted of:  piggyback runs (a partner on your back as you jog down the road), buddy sprints, and various core workouts and calisthenics.  All of these exercises were done while performing a critical SCUBA action or process.  We returned to campus sweaty and tired, but excited for the day of SCUBA ahead.

We jumped into the water and became submerged in an entirely new world.  The bubbles of our regulators framed our excited faces. The water was the purest of blues as we descended to the sandy bottom.  Everything was so different.  Sounds were loud and foreign.  The touch of comfort from our buddy’s shoulder as we were jostled in the light current.  The spectrum of feelings went from fervent fear to utter joy as we saw the possibilities ahead for our semester.  We learned many different, yet essential skills, and still took the time to do a headstand or two.  The entire community ended the day satisfied with their superior feats and couldn’t wait for the following day when we could all plunge into the water and immerse ourselves once more.