By ERIC WRECK
STAFF WRITER
 Nishika Sen (top) |
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Nishika Sen, a second-year student at Rutgers New Brunswick, has made it her mission to get SCUBA certified.
Sen remains focused on school during the semester, but is in the process of planning a diving trip for this summer; location to be decided. |
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She is right on the grasp of certification, standing only a few dives away.
In order to become SCUBA certified, one must pass a general knowledge test and complete a set number of dives with an approved instructor.
Her desire to get certified stems from many different reasons; the most important of which being the ties to her childhood summers spent diving in Thailand.
She has not been in the past few years, and believes that the certification will help her get closer to her dad, whom she used to go with. After not seeing him for over two years, Sen is ecstatic to get their last few dives in together.
Her boyfriend will also be coming along, who has not yet met her dad, been out of the country, or gone scuba diving before.
She also believes that SCUBA trips allow her to tap into the different cultures of the countries she visits.
She explained how while away on diving trips in Thailand, “we would always make it a point to visit local towns and look at old temples,” and she recalled the villages and beaches standing as some of the “most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.”
She even recalls tasting the local food, including “these chocolate filled pancake things at beachfront stalls,” explaining, “it’s always been a fond memory of mine thinking back to all the times we sat on the beautiful beaches eating those.”
She has also been South Africa, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Malaysia with her father, but, “the scuba diving trips to Thailand have always been our favorite.”
With the semester winding down here in New Brunswick, Sen’s anticipation is real; both for a tropical escape, as well as to spend time with who she loves, doing what she loves. |
