"For Some Silly Reason..."

"... Lindsay here wants to become a Dive Master. She has finished all her training and passed all her tests, except one. Lindsay will demonstrate how to clear her mask and snorkel. Lindsay, when you are ready, give us the OK."

And that is how my snorkel test began, with my instructor Scott introducing the event as all instructors do. As I sat perched on the top of the picnic bench in the pool room with the mask and snorkel on, I wondered what in the hell I was doing. Here I was, sitting in a bikini, about to consume a ridiculous concoction of rum, coke, beer, pina colada and red bull, staring out at all these people who had shown up to witness this rite of passage. Did I really want to chug back that foul mix and clear beer out of a mask? Did I really want to be a Dive Master?

With those thoughts in my head I said "Let's get 'er done!", put the snorkel in my mouth and signaled the OK. It seemed like an eternity had passed by the time the sickly sweet brew finally came rushing down the snorkel. I tried to take it like a champ and not waste anything. The problem was, I was running out of air. So I did what I have seen no other snorkel test victim did. I plugged the snorkel with my thumb as to not waste what was put in my snorkel. After taking a few gasps of air, I put the snorkel back in to be greeted by two gulps of liquid followed by what seemed like ten seconds of foam. After I sucked in air, I whipped off the mask and snorkel, took the snorkel off and waited for the mask filling.

I sat on that bench with anticipation, the top of my mask lifted off my forehead. All of a sudden, this icy cold beverage hit my face, filling my nose and burning my eyes. I counted to three. I signaled for everyone to watch me. I looked down, held the top of my mask and slowly exhaling through my nose, I looked up, cleared my mask and whipped it off. I was handed the rest of my beer, was toasted and I slammed back that beer like it was the last beer on earth. After two months of nothing but reading, tests, exams, and diving until I couldn't even wake up in the morning, I was finally a Dive Master.