sorry i can't hear you

There is water in my ear. There is water in my ear and I hear myself breath, and I can't quite hear, and the pressure in my head is POPPIN.

I'm in lifeguarding class right now to fill my last ever DPE requirement: lifetime fitness. I had tennis scheduled 3 different times, but my knee kept getting in the way with its inadequacy and such, so lifeguarding was the best, non-impact class available.

I would describe myself as an intermittent swimmer. Here and there. Where I can, but I don't seek it out. I am not a rushed swimmer. Breaststroke is a strength while alternating breathing on the freestyle gets me every time. Sarah taught me how to do a flip turn 14 months ago to be exact, and I haven't used this skill since (but i can see it coming in handy if i ever peruse a lap pool again).

My instructor is one of the most energetic and caring humans I have encountered here, but he did make us jump off the 6m tower rather causally. Today's class made me nervous, because I knew we would be going to (or near) the 15 ft bottom of the pool. My eardrums burst when I was 3 or something odd like that, so as a child, I was convinced I couldn't go more than 6 inches under water... I perfected the "racing dive" aka I just never went below the surface. Anyway, this is a lot of background to say that I hate deep water. It always, without fail, gets stuck in my ears for days following. If there's one thing to push me a littttttle more in these last 42 days, it'll be this lifeguarding class. For the sake of my sanity, I just pray that I learn how to equalize the pressure in my head more efficiently.