for three days i was out of town for my basic offshore safety induction and emergency training – bosiet, it was a great experience for me. probably for others, it was way too easy for them but for myself, it was a challenge. whenever i panic, i hyperventilate – this was my worst fear when i was doing the practical exercises. this happened when we were in the fire fighting exercises wearing a smoke hood. i felt suffocated, i just wanted to pull that thing out from my head for my lungs were screaming for open air but the exercise involved finding your way out with zero visibility in an enclosed smoked structure – simulating fire on a ship. i just did it, and luckily made it out.

the hardest part of the training was the helicopter ditching, it was dreadful. my co-trainees likely saw the fear in me, they kept cheering me up, assuring me that everything will be fine. well the thing is i am not a good swimmer and the pool depth was 12 feet! i freak out whenever i can no longer reach the tile floor with my toes on a regular pool. my heartbeat was literally racing as i observed the first batch of the trainees do the exercise which involved 8 types. it just looked easy in the video – but once you are there seated inside, it was way too different. i tried to calm myself down, i even prayed to god, i told him – god, i want to do this badly, can you help me out? when it was my group’s turn i listened intently to the instructor and the exercises started. there were instances that they just immersed us in the water, wherein you always have to wait for the inside to be full of water before you can go out, opening the window, unbuckling your seatbelt and getting out. then the worst scenario was when they immerse you again in the water but the structure will turn upside down just like in the video. i gulped a good amount of chlorine water this time – when i surfaced the diver reached out for me for i was coughing out, he was saying relax but i can’t for i was sort of regurgitating the water i ingested, i thought i was about to vomit then the diver put me by the side of the pool and i just coughed out the water and i felt okay – so i went back to finish the last two of the exercises.

i’m just proud to say that i was able to pass this training, the satisfaction is not mainly in the certification that i received but i was able to overcome the fears i have – and it made me feel better, way much better.