Return to the Ocean by Courtney

Return to the Ocean by Courtney - July 2015 Scholarship Essay

My personal goal that I hope to accomplish while attending college is go on a refresher SCUBA dive. Not for recreation reasons, but because I want to pursue a degree in marine biology. SCUBA (which stands for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) diving is a passion of mine; it made me fall in love with the ocean. Because of this deep love of the ocean I have decided to seek a degree in marine biology as well as be a part of any kind of extracurricular activities such as attend science related clubs. However, diving is not something that many people can afford to do on a regular basis, especially not if you are a college student on a tight budget.

I got my Open Water Diver certification at fourteen years old (which is a basic certification needed to dive up to 60 feet) and my Advanced Open Water Diver certification at fifteen (which allows you to dive up to 120 feet) through a program I was involved with for six years called the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps, which is a Navy and Coast Guard Sponsored program designed to teach kids nine to seventeen years of age about different careers available in the military. Because of this program, I not only got experience diving but also doing maintenance on and operating small boats. Being around the ocean so much is what inspired me to pick marine biology as a career. And so, I decided shortly before my sixteenth birthday that I should start taking full time college courses at Saint Petersburg College in order to pursue that dream.

As my college career progressed, I was able to be part of many different clubs and other activities provided by the college, one of being the Science Adventures Club. Although Saint Petersburg College is small, they have a rapidly growing marine biology research program. Through the Science Adventures Club, I was lucky enough to assist with their juvenile fish study by sorting specimens in the lab by species, location and quantity as well as documenting all of this information. Divers from the college would go out and collect these samples, and I wanted very badly to be a part of that team. Unfortunately, there were a few requirements in order to dive that I did not meet.

As much as I love diving, it can be pretty expensive dive regularly. My brother and sister, both of my parents and myself all attend full time college. Because of this, going out on dives was put pretty far down on the to-do list for both me and my family. According to laws regarding divers, you have to have at least one dive every 6-12 months to be considered a current diver, and most employers/colleges will not allow you to dive unless you have documented at least one dive in the past six months, and/or a refresher dive in the last year. Because I have not been on a dive in almost three years, they could not allow me to dive. I want to be able to go out and collect samples because not only will it be great for my career, it will allow me to get the experience I need doing what I love.

And so, one of my most important goals currently is to be able to get a refresher dive in order to be able to join the research team and be a more active member of Saint Petersburg College’s marine biology research program. The best way for me to prepare for my career is to get experience diving, and hopefully I will be able to accomplish this goal even with tuition and cost of living. Diving is my passion and I would love nothing more than to get this done so that I may do the research I want to do.