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janine glaeser Start Date: Jul 15, 2024 - End Date: Jul 14, 2025
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Volunteer Trip

My Travel Story

by: janine glaeser Start Date: Jul 15, 2024 - End Date: Jul 14, 2025
  • Cultural Exchange
  • Educational/Research Trip
  • Volunteer Trip
Zavier Alexander is passionate about helping to protect and restore the world’s damaged coral
reef ecosystems. Following his June 2025 high school graduation, he will volunteer with Reef
Conservation International in the Caribbean—home of the Belize Barrier Reef, the world’s
second largest—and is fundraising now for his trip.

Through educational presentations and scuba dives to the reef, Zav’s team will:
• Learn how to help protect the reef’s fragile ecosystem and keep endangered species safe and healthy
• Learn what happens to unbalanced ecosystems and the chain reaction they cause
• Gain hands-on experience removing the destructive, invasive lionfish to help prevent it from destroying Caribbean reefs
• Learn about the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems
• Discover the rewards of volunteerism and being part of an environmental solution

Updates

2

  • PADI Open Water Check Out Dives & Certification

    PADI Open Water Check Out Dives & Certification
    In late September I finished my final PADI Scuba Certification check out dives with the Diversions Scuba Dive Master and 8 other students. We had perfect weather with excellent underwater visibility. I am ready for my volunteer dive work with Reef Conservation Inc. in Belize this June!
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  • PADI Open Water Certification Class - July 2024

    PADI Open Water Certification Class - July 2024
    This weekend , July 13-14, 2024, I worked with Diversions Scuba from Madison, Wisconsin to finish the PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) classroom and open water pool dive section. I completed the required online PADI course before taking the in person classroom and pool courses. In the Classroom Session of the course, we were exposed to a variety of subject matter and how it relates to scuba diving. The Pool Session is where we practiced all of the skills necessary for open water diving. Our first project was to familiarize ourselves with all of the equipment and set up our gear and prepare for entry. That first breath was a memorable experience and nice to do in a relaxed atmosphere of confined water. At the end of July, I am looking forward to completing the PADI open water certification with my first real dive at either Devil's Lake or Lake Mendota in WI.
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