How I Got Into Scuba Diving Part 2

I dropped out of the University of Oklahoma midway through my freshman year back in ’73 to become a commercial diver. I enrolled in Oceaneering International’s diving school in Long Beach and headed west. After graduating in ’74, I moved to Morgan City, Louisiana to work on the offshore rigs in the gulf. My career as an industrial diver only lasted about six months though after it struck me I was doing the same construction work I’d gone to college to escape. The fact the job was underwater and paid pretty well wasn’t enough to offset the fact I was living in a swamp, diving in muddy water, and working alongside a bunch of roughnecks, each of which had lost at least one finger on the job. I went back to school and graduated with a degree in finance. I’ve made thousands of dives since then, but all of them for fun or adventure and mostly in crystal clear waters!