Cody Witherspoon wrote a letter to the judges of his senior project about completing the requirements to become scuba certified. He conducted research and wrote a paper that helped him learn the physical demands and career opportunities in scuba diving. While he found commercial diving appealing, he does not plan to pursue it as a career due to its uncertainty. Through his senior project, Cody was able to explore his interest in scuba diving and determine it is not a career path he wishes to follow, gaining valuable insight before college.

1. 1550 Owens Store Road
Canton GA 30115
April 13 2012
Judges, Senior Project
Creekview High School
1550 Owens Store Road
Canton GA 30115
Dear Judges:
My name is Cody Witherspoon, I am a senior student at Creekview High School, and it is a part
of my graduation to complete a senior project. The topic I chose is scuba diving, during my
school year I learned the knowledge necessary to gain an official certification. If it were not for
senior project I would have never had the opportunity to learn this skill, and for that I am
grateful. Interesting as it may be, I am not quite sure if my future goals for a career will include
scuba diving, at present I intend to go to college and major in criminal justice. Researching my
project topic and writing a paper about it gave me more knowledge on the subject and helped me
decide if I should pursue my topic as a career.
The final product of my project is my certification card, which required 25 hours of class time
and 5 logged dives in the ocean. Having to write a research paper on my topic definitely helped
me through the certification process, it helped me to be nearly immersed in the subject and learn
more about it every day. I learned it was more physically strenuous than I expected and also
about the effects scuba diving has on the human body. I am glad I was expecting to have to pass
a physical test my first day of class, without learning that in my paper I am not sure I would have
been able to pass.
As well as learning about the subject itself I also came to find out there are multiple careers
involving scuba diving. The career I found most appealing was the field of commercial diving,
which involves diving to various depths repairing oil rigs, bridges, salvaging sunken ships and
anything else that may need maintenance under water. I have considered this as a career in depth
but I do not believe I will pursue it because of the lack of certainty and steadiness of the job. It is
still a possibility but I highly doubt I will continue further in scuba diving other than recreation.
I think senior project is a great tool for seniors to find out what they are passionate about, or
maybe more importantly what they are not passionate about before they enter post-secondary
school. Thank you so much for your time and interest in my project, I greatly appreciate your
concern in my graduation.
Sincerely,
Cody Witherspoon