Being an Instructor - Why do it.

[kopelen 0]

Try to get a feel for those rating holdiers out there. How they all feel about being instructors.

[wmw999 2,589]

While my I rating has expired, the first three all applied when I was teaching. I couldn't pick just one...

Wendy W.

[diverdriver 7]

Quote

Try to get a feel for those rating holdiers out there. How they all feel about being instructors.

But it's more than the free jumps. (I don't JM right now. I do some low time organizing when I'm jumping and not driving.) I actually enjoy jumping with the newbies. It's fun to watch them grow and pass on some good knowledge. Yah, there are weekends where I devote my time to the high end dives that Max Meijer organizes. I gotta challenge myself in different ways.

Chris

[skyboyblue 0]

i started instructing because i wanted to be the first person a student would see in freefall showing them they can actually fly. and then smile back at them. I remember when it was the other way around, how cool that was to me. to give back what my JM's gave to me, to feed my addiction, joy of watching people progress, chicks....all reasons I started instructing. mainly chicks though...hehe

sbb

[Luminous 0]

I took the JM course simply to pass it as I had bet a couple of newly rated JM's at my DZ, who had let the ratings go to their head, that I could. Kinda like "well hell.... if Larry can get one...".

I continue as a JM, (now Instructor ), because:
I enjoy teaching someone something new.
The look on the face of a first timer going to the door is priceless!
Being there when it "clicks" for someone is AWSOME! I'll buy my own slot to jump with a lowtimer just as readily as I'll do an AFF jump.

I don't JM full time, usually just 'as needed' by the DZ, so when they hand me money at the end of the day I always figure they want me to go get beer.
BSBD

'In an insane society a sane person seems insane.' Mr. Spock

[Sebazz1 2]

I love everything anout being an instructor.

*I am a Tandem-I and an AFF-I
*Not only do I love the jumps but I love teaching first jump courses.
*Being a part of a persons first jump or beggining of their progression in this sport is friggen awesome. I feed off their energy and it feeds my ego at the same time. Every skydive is interesting and fresh. I love to entertain and teach.
*Helps me pay my way through the sport
*Helps increase my jump #'s quickly
*It is a challenge to be a good instructor. I have always preferred to give than recieve.
*Being an Instructor makes me a better jumper.
*I need to be busy 100% of the day. There are always skydivers on the DZ needing coaching, instruction, attention, whatever. Being an I keeps me busy...

Skydiving and skydiving instruction has been so far in my life the most rewarding thing ever.

[jlmiracle 7]

I got my rating because we didn't have enought AFF JM's in the immediate area. We were having problem getting the student graduated. I just wanted to make more skydivers so I have more people to play with.

Also, more skydivers can mean bigger aircraft.

I didn't get it for the money (like there is a lot to make) or the love of teaching. My reasons are kinda selfish - I want bigger aircraft.

Judy

Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.

[Shark 0]

Because I get a kick out of it when I see my former students become great flyers. (Plus, I have horror stories of them that I can pull out if I need beer.) In one word: Fun. (Which is the beginning of FUNnel.)

[jumpervali 2]

I think it's just cool to be a part of what for most people is one of the biggest events in their life.

jumpervali aff-i

[Vallerina 2]

*Disclaimer: I am not a rated anything!*

However, I did try to go for the static line jumpmaster rating (I almost had it complete; I needed the BIC and to put out like 3 more freefall pretending-to-be-students...I didn't get it done before they switched to the ISP.) The reasons I wanted it:
1) I wanted to "give back" and all that stuff.
2) It was fun to put students out! (It was more fun to watch experienced skydivers out on a dope rope, though! The things they did for me...)
3) I really enjoyed static line, and I figured my enthusiasm for it could show through instructing.
4) For the whole $4 a student! Big money! (Yeah right...)

There's a thin line between Saturday night and Sunday morning

[skybytch 273]

All my ratings are expired now.

I got the first rating, S/L JM, because I wanted to learn as much as I could about the sport. They say the best way to learn a subject is to teach it; I agree with that 100%.

I kept at it, threw a bunch of people out on the dope rope, taught lots of FJC's and picked up the I later because I really enjoyed teaching, and I really enjoyed being a part of what was for many students the biggest, most exciting thing they'd ever done.

Sad to say and hard to admit, I got the tandem rating primarily for the money. While most of the jumps were fun - I was sharing a first jump with someone after all - there was far less teaching going on and the teaching is what I enjoyed most.

After a short while the money wasn't worth the responsibility, wear and tear on my body and the increased liability. Not to mention I started to feel like a carnival ride operator... Seemed to me that most of the people doing tandems for a first jump weren't willing to take responsibility for their own safety (I heard "I'm so glad you're here to take care of me" more times than I care to remember).

I'm considering working toward an AFF rating in the future because I do miss teaching it. There's just something about knowing that you're responsible for someone else's introduction to this wonderful sport. It's fun to watch your former students progress in the sport, and even if they eventually surpass you in jump numbers or flying skills, you're still the person who "taught them to skydive"!

[wmw999 2,589]

Quote

I'm considering working toward an AFF rating in the future because I do miss teaching it.

You should do it. I find that siren call enticing, too. But I have to get a whole lot more current (S/L ratings expired in 1986, AFF in 1988 ). Either way, the teaching might be fun to do while you're back in college, because you can ramp the hours up or down to suit your schedule and your needs.

Wendy W.

[SkymonkeyONE 4]

Like Sebazz, I do it for a little of everything. I got my SL rating because I had enough jumps and my dad made me get it, thus taking some load off himself. The fact that being a Jumpmaster, then Instructor got me loads of free jumps was a great perk for a young soldier with no money. Well, back then we skydived for free anyway ($7.50 per month dues at the green beret parachute club), but dispatching a load of students was a sure way to get to the head of the manifest list and get on the first loads.

I found that I really liked teaching, so I have always maintained all of my ratings, even when I wasn't really jumping hardly at all. Teaching keeps me "turned on," as does the act of making any type of live student jump.

Later, I got myself a tandem rating (because my dad needed more meat haulers) and found that I really liked that aspect of the sport. A nice benefit to that was that I could actually start getting paid. I still do a lot of free tandems for the demo team I jump with, but the majority of them are as a paid employee of the dropzone; same for AFF.

The bottom line is that I still love to teach, love the free jumps, like getting paid, but would (and still do) give my time freely.

Chuck

[drenaline 0]

I am not an skydiving instructor but I am a scuba diver divemaster and I love to help students. Teaching is great gives you an oportunity to give something back, knowledge. Another good thing of teaching is that it keeps you current with all the info cause you are always teaching it and remembering it, its almost impossible to forget.

HISPA 21
www.panamafreefall.com