Students dive underwater, exploring the beauty the ocean has to offer and creating unforgettable memories with their friends in Gamecock SCUBA.
Gamecock SCUBA’s is a USC club with a mission to spread environmental awareness by teaching students more about the deep sea and building a love for what is within the water. Hannah Lewis, a third-year marine science student and Gamecock SCUBA’s club president, said her main goal for the club is to get people in the water as a beginner or to help students return back to diving on a regular basis.
Whether a student is a marine biology major, scuba hobbyist, advanced diver or entering the water for the first time, Gamecock SCUBA wants more people to get involved. Scuba diving shouldn’t be restricted to one group, more people should try scuba diving said Lewis.
"I want more diversity [in scuba diving], because there is not much diversity at all," Lewis said. "I want to see different faces. I want to see different genders. I want to see different races."
Lewis said she has passion for scuba diving, and wants to share it with other students at USC. She said she seeks ways to prevent finances from becoming an obstacle for students. Some local dive shop owners are willing to help the club for the sake of helping students follow their passions.
"We get discounts for rental gear, we get discounts for classes, and then we work with dive shops ... We got a group discount for the charters this weekend and they're not local. They don't really know who we are, but they were still like, 'Yeah y'all are students. Y'all do a lot'" Lewis said.
Students can attend meetings without having to pay a membership fee. But there are two types of paid memberships the club offers.
A basic membership is $15 cash and $20 if paying with a card, and it covers discounts on dive gear, said Hayden Paré, a third-year criminal justice student and Gamecock SCUBA's public relations executive. A premium membership is $45 cash or $50 with a card. It covers discounts on gear, trips and classes, she said.
"Your biggest thing is going to be money because scuba is an expensive hobby, so you're going to need to figure out how you're going to afford it," Paré said. "You can spend however much you want to spend. You can find ways to spend a lot, but there are also ways you can spend less."
Going on dive trips can be expensive and out of some students' budgets, but going on local dive trips are cheaper alternatives, Paré said. having less expensive trips allows students to save their money, as opposed to the bigger, more expensive trips that occur over school breaks.
During their trips, Gamecock SCUBA members clean up the water and pull out as much trash as they can. Additionally, Gamecock SCUBA participates in Dive Against Debris, the annual trash clean-up dive competition against Clemson Scuba Club.
"I think that it can be eye opening for people on their first couples dives, just seeing how much trash we get out of the lake on a dive," Paré said. "It was very eye opening my first time ... just to see how full of trash it is. And it's just like, 'Holy crap, how?'"
Even after clean-up dives or picking up trash after recreational dives, whenever the club returns, the trash seem to always replenish, Paré said.
Gamecock SCUBA is a place to connect with sea life, oneself and others in the organization. Lewis said that for her, she loves the family aspect with the club and how close she has become with the people she met within Gamecock SCUBA.
"I truly believe that I have met some of my best friends that I will have for a lifetime. Just being in the club that I wouldn't have met them or I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to become as close to them as I have through the club," Paré said. "And it's helped me get more involved in my community and just in school in general."
Alana Overbey, a third-year Spanish and anthropology student and SCUBA's secretary, said she joined Gamecock SCUBA on a whim after taking a scuba class with her friend, but that choice ended up leading her to discover her love for scuba diving. Ian Funk, a third-year marine science student and SCUBA's dive trip coordinator, said he joined because felt Gamecock SCUBA would help him further his studies in school as a marine science student. Paré said she always loved the water and saw scuba diving as a closed community where being able to network is important.
Even if students are not interested in scuba diving, Gamecock SCUBA still wants students to take notice of the effects humans have on oceanic environments and to do something about it.
"I wish people would be more conscious about their trash and cleaning up after themselves," Funk said. "The only thing you should really leave behind are footprints or if you're scuba diving, bubbles."
Gamecock SCUBA meets on Mondays at 7 p.m. in Jones 120.