Oceanquest, 1985
”Wanted: A Year of Your Life for the Adventure of Your Life’
It all started in 1985. NBC aired a 5 part series named Oceanquest. Al Giddings, a seasoned diver and underwater photographer, said he wanted to make a film in which he would express his own passion for diving by training someone with no dive experience. He supposedly posted a classified ad that read,”Wanted: A Year of Your Life for the Adventure of Your Life”.
I was intrigued by this show. I’m not sure what captured my attention the most. It might have been the adventure, the scuba diving, the travel, or the sharks. Or maybe it was the student, Shawn Weatherly, a.k.a. Miss Universe 1980. But I think it was all of the above. I watched all the highs and lows of their yearlong quest.
It was then that I started to dream of being a scuba diver.
In the years to come I also dreamed of being a movie star, a race car driver, a stuntman, the U.S. President, and third baseman for the Braves. I’m pretty sure that I never dreamed of dropping out of college and spending 9 years of my life in a corporate office cubicle. But that is what happened somehow.
Along the way I never knew anyone who was a scuba diver. And I certainly didn’t think there were any opportunities in Atlanta, Ga to become a scuba diver. However, my interest remained even though the closest I came to fulfilling it was by watching the Discovery Channel.
In 2008, I took a major dive, a metaphorical one. I left the “safety and security” of my corporate job. I started my own online marketing business. I built websites and began experimenting with social media. I worked with dozens of clients. But none of them had a business that really interested me. I decided I wanted to find a webmaster job that I was passionate about.
Then, after months of searching, I came across a classified ad. It didn’t say,”Wanted: A Year of Your Life for the Adventure of Your Life”. But I knew it was my chance. To be continued…