Blog #19 - Allie Gregory

          As I sat down to answer this prompt, I decided to ask my family, "Hey, what's the best advice you've ever given me?" This managed to leave both of my parents rather flustered, my father answering, "Well it must not have been very good if you can't remember it on your own." My ten-year-old little brother piped in, "I have some advice for you. Don't die." Understand, he thinks he's hilarious.
          So deeming them all useless, I returned to my computer screen and thought about it some more. And though a variety of things did eventually come to mind, I decided to go with one that I could give specific and more importantly interesting examples for. It's something my dad has preached for years, but I have recently learned to be very true: "the cool head prevails." It sounds rather lame, but over the years it has certainly become part of who I am. And I can think of multiple instances that make this a fortunate occurrence.
          To begin my example, I need provide some rather interesting background information. In eighth grade, my brother and I both began taking classes at the Y to become Scuba certified. We practiced all the necessary skills in the calm, controlled environment of the YMCA pool and as such encountered virtually no problems. However, then we had to go on our certification trip, the dive that in essence was our final. It was a test and it would determine whether or not we would become licensed. And it went, all in all, rather flawlessly. Which was wonderful. But as we began to explore the spring in which we were diving, finally a problem ensued. We were not deep, maybe 20 feet under and just inside the lip of a great cavern. My excited little brother enthusiastically swam past me, which would have been fine had he any sense for where his giant fins were and what they were doing. When he kicked the hose at my side, I felt it instantly, the regulator allowing me to breath being yanked from my mouth. And an undeniable wave of fear swept over me. It was dark, I could no longer see my brother, and quite obviously, I had the slight problem of not being able to breath. But I knew better than to panic, because panicing does not fix a situation. It took several horrifying seconds, but I did as I had been taught. As calmly as I could, I swung my arm in a complete circle, beginning at my knee and revolving over my head. Sure enough, the regulator cord latched to my arm, floating somewhere in the vicinity of my swing, and I groped for it, shoving it back in my mouth. Worse even was the moment when I remembered that it was now filled with water, but again I followed procedure, purging my mouth piece of salt water and finally regaining my air supply.
          I recognize perfectly well that there were multiple ways to have remedied the situation; had I been unable to find my regulator, I had enough air in my lungs to return me to the surface either way. But the point of the matter stands that someone who panicked in that situation would not have had the sense to do either. As such, I appreciate the upbringing that keeps me level-headed in a stressful situation. I have other examples and can think of a multitude of ways this advice applies to life, but I'm pretty sure no one cares at this point. So I'll leave it with my few seconds underwater that taught me the value of a cool head.