A Slippery Rock University alumnus dove into a career in aquatics and scuba diving and now she’s leading the way for more students looking to get their feet wet.
Samantha Dudley ’24, graduated with a degree in park and resource management and a minor in aquatics and adventure fitness. While at SRU, she was the first student to intern at Florida Sea Base, a high adventure base run by Scouting America in the Florida Keys. After she was hired as a diving instructor at Sea Base, four other SRU students have completed internships with the base during the last two summers. They included the following health and physical education majors:
- Gage Bax, a junior from Lake City (Girard HS).
- Ben Yard, a junior from Franklin (Franklin HS).
- Jay Lee, a junior from Gettysburg (Gettysburg HS).
- Samantha Frederick, a senior from Oakdale (Chartiers Valley HS).
Other leaders at Florida Sea Base have taken note of the developing connection between the base and the University, posing SRU as a first choice for future internships.
“The consensus that I’ve heard from all of the departments was we would love to have any Slippery Rock students because they have really represented the University well,” Dudley said.
Dudley attributes a scuba diving course she took her freshman year with Robert Ogoreuc, assistant professor of physical and health education, for helping find her passion.
“That’s how I started diving. I fell in love with it immediately,” Dudley said.
During her junior year, Dudley obtained the dive certification necessary to earn an internship with Florida Sea Base, in addition to continuing environmental education that would advance her career.
“By the time I came down to Florida Sea Base, I felt like I was really well equipped for diving professionally because of SRU,” Dudley said.
Along with success in aquatics, Dudley and each of the interns from the past two summers are helping to build a strong connection between Florida Sea Base and SRU.
“Sea Base has had a really strong connection for a while with a couple other universities,” Dudley said. “When I came down, I saw that and was hoping we could replicate that with Slippery Rock. In a lot of ways, I think we have”
That improved connection comes from the mutual benefit of the internships. Dudley praised the interns for their energy, reliability and flexibility.
Dudley is now working on her OUPV Captain’s License, commonly referred to as a six-pack, that would allow her to carry up to six passengers on vessels up to 100 tons.
“I equate Sea Base to a teaching hospital,” Dudley said. “Everyone’s always learning something. Everyone’s always furthering their professional development somehow.”
Since arriving as a dive master, Dudley has earned certifications to become an Open Water Scuba Instructor, Master Scuba Diver Trainer, and IDC Staff Instructor, all through the Sea Base and the Professional Association of Diving Instructors, which allow her to teach people how to be scuba instructors.
That sentiment of continued learning has stuck with the interns as well. The internship allows students to work through certifications that increase their skills and strengthen their portfolios for future jobs. Yard earned his advanced open water scuba certification while Lee learned to dive at sea base. Some of the students have also worked on lifeguarding.
“There’s lots that we teach down here and it’s a great opportunity especially for students that are looking to figure out what they want to do,” Dudley said.
More information about the park and resources management major and the health and physical education degree is available on the programs’ webpages.
