first off i am padi cert. o/w thru rescue and doing my dive master in a month. ok when i got my o/w cert i had both my instuctors do the class. during our pool classes i had one inst. who was at the time it seemed alil bit cold towards the students but none the less very noligable about diving. during my o/w class the other inst. was like a mother hen and equally as noligable. after me and my buddy got our cert cards we start diving at leasest 2 to 3 times a week for about a mont or two working on stuff our inst. taught us. also we started diving with both of them on a personally. we watch them and talked with them and other experianced divers just picking the brain so to speak to get better. after diving with them and talking with them and getting to know their personallities a lil better we learned that the 1st inst was a cop and public safty diver w 25 years in and the 2nd was third gen. diver in her family. so i would say that my education from my o/w class has really not stopped since that first day in the pool and will not stop til the day i die or i am unable to dive any more. continious education is the key to any good diver o/w is the start on this life long jorney of this great sport of ours. polarbear