"I never thought I could be doing anything like that!"
Posted By Phil Mucci on 10 October 2007
The IDC gang, from the left, Tyler (US), Luke (Can), Phill Rogers (UK), Lais (Brazil), Indika (Sri Lanka), Phil Mucci (US, author), Nikki (Korea), Bjorn (Denmark), Vicki (Thailand), Steve (UK)
We met the next day at the hotel and Indika and I sat side by side. He still smiled and joked in his nervous way. His hand kept moving from his head to his chest. I paced, smoked cigarettes (I'm not really a smoker) and drank coffee nervously. The Dive Asia crew Bjorn, Steve, Phil, Nikki were all there, as were the other candidates, Lais (Brazil), Luke (Canada) and Tyler (US). Everyone became friends during this IDC, everyone helped Indika and everyone wanted him to succeed. As we sat down, I was to take the Standards test first and Indika was to take Theory. I kept telling him to ask questions. After we started, I got to question 10 of 50 on the standards test and thought “Shit, there is no way he can pass this test.” The exam I was given was nearly 10 years old and each question was 3-4 sentences long, with difficult vocabulary and construction. It didn't resemble the practice tests we had been taking very much. During that 90 minutes, I asked about 20 questions, both to ensure my own success as well as to demonstrate to Indika that I had no shame in asking questions about everything. Fortunately, Indika was awarded a bit of extra time as the PADI materials are not available in his native language. We didn't finish together so we were not able to talk during our 10-minute break. Eventually, we were both at our desks again and this time he was taking the Standards exam. I kept peeking over to see how it was going. He was blowing air out his nostrils in frustration and I could see he only had a bit of the answer key marked. I took a big risk and whispered to him “Indika, you have got to ask questions”. He whispered back, “I don't understand any of this!”. My heart sank. “Please just ask.” I said. And at that, I went back to my test. He was on his own now. If I could have failed for him, I would have, but it doesn't work that way. I finished my test and went outside and the others followed shortly. We all gathered and talked about our scores. Everyone had passed the exam. Everyone was waiting for Indika. The only analogy to the IDC and IE could be basic training commonly known as boot camp. The friends you make there, you surely never forget. It was hard to celebrate our own success, we all knew how difficult the test was and how Indika must be feeling. Periodically the door would open and groups of happy candidates would come out. Every now and then, one would come out and you knew what had happened. I saw the look on the face of a French woman who had failed the test and prepared myself to face a good friend, with that very same look. The door opened and Indika stepped out. He was walking like John Wayne, two steps closer he broke out into a smile, opened his arms for a hug and said “I fu#$ing passed the test man!”. I yelled “Holy Shit” at the top of my lungs, it echoed throughout the atrium of the 5 star hotel. We all hugged each other, we jumped, laughed, screamed. All decorum was lost and all youth was regained. His success was our success. Our success was his. A new instructor was about to be born.
On return to the dive center, we broke the news to Steve, our Master Instructor. Steve, hadn't let his guard down around us much throughout the IDC. When he heard the news, he dropped his cool British demeanor and grabbed Indika and hugged him like a father hugs his son after he's been away from home for years. Everyone was in a combined state of elation and stunned disbelief. He had done it. Next up were 2 days of practicals, which we had rehearsed repeatedly, with Bjorn, Steve, Phil and Nikki. We were ready. During those next 2 days, Indika wasn't the only one who exceeded himself. I saw everyone in our group perform better than they ever had before. I don't know if it's like this for every I.E., as I never ever hope to take one again. But the inspiration that Indika provided us all to exceed surely fueled our stellar performance those next 2 days. On the last day, we were to teach some skills from an open water class followed by each of us performing an in-water rescue. Conditions were horrible. 1-meter seas, downpour, and visibility about three meters, but we all did it. No one made any obvious critical mistakes, but the final word would come from Rob, our examiner. It is so easy to fail the I.E., as missing one critical mistake in a simulated student could result in severe injury later on. So, the pressure is really on. We did our final briefings and then it was time for the results. I passed and then waited for the results for Indika. There would be no premature celebrations. Indika received his marks and emerged with that broad smile. Indika grabbed me and we hugged, laughing, congratulating each other. We danced around for a while, with exclamations of “Get a Room!” being shouted in at least six different languages from the others on board. Only our group knew of the magnitude of this accomplishment. At that point, it was truly over, I could finally relax and let go, so put my hands and head down on the table, stretched out and had a good cry in plain sight of everyone on deck. Years of work had come down to this one simple moment, a triumph of the individual over seemingly insurmountable odds.
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