Hello! My name is Coral Nicole Batchelder, and I am currently in my fourth year as an English Education major at UCF. I love reading and I hope to share this love for reading with high school students in the near future. Aside from being a full time student, I also work part time as a server at Sonny’s BBQ. This definitely is not a job I want for the rest of my life, but I usually come home with some interesting stories, and it pays the bills.
Outside of work and school, I love to fill my free time with the things I love. Topping this list is my love for water. I became a certified Padi scuba diver about a year and a half ago. Since then, my boyfriend and I have logged dives in amazing places such as Blue Springs, off the coast of Palm Beach, and even the Living Seas aquarium at EPCOT! I have found love for the underwater world in a way that I never imagined I could have, and I look forward to many more dives in my near future!
Not only do I dive in the ocean, but I also like to relax on the shore. I live about ten minutes from Playalinda beach, and spent most of my life living about twenty minutes from Cocoa beach. So a lot of my time on the weekends and during Summer while I was growing up was spent at the beach with my friends. Although I love to find adventures and hang out at the beach, I also enjoy my quiet time. I find this time through reading, which I have loved since I was little. I have a variety of interests, hobbies, and goals, and I am looking forward to sharing these in the first blog I have ever created!
coralwrites 
Coral, I’m really intrigued by your scuba diving! Do you have all your own gear and everything? How often do you dive around the beaches here? I’m curious how you got over any fears (if you had them) of going under water for so long. I’ve always thought that I’d panic once I was under and not be able to breathe through the regulator. If you have an underwater camera, you should post some pictures on here of your next dive. I’d really like to see them!
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Julie,
I actually do not have all of my own gear because it is so expensive but I have been on the hunt for some! I usually just rent gear. I have not dove any beaches around here, but I have dove springs around here which is a lot of fun, although it is cold! The only ocean dives I’ve done have been off of Palm Beach. It’s a lot more clear and they have more reefs than Central Florida. My biggest fear was feeling claustrophobic because I felt like breathing through the regulator would feel confined like breathing through a straw. However, during my first dive (which takes place in a pool) I realized that it actually feels like natural breathing. I have never felt claustrophobic so I’ve never had a panicky moment 🙂 I do have a gopro and love to take pictures with it! Hopefully I do another dive soon (if I find time) and can post pictures from it!
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Coral, teach me how to scuba dive! I’ve been SNUBA diving, is it any harder? I know with Snuba it freaked me out to be able to hear my own breathing. Actually, it made me want to pass out. Chances are I wasn’t doing it right. Glad to see it works out for you! We can go and I’ll snorkel while you dive. 😉
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Coral, I think that it is so cool that you scuba dive! I once went helmet diving in the Grand Cayman Islands, and I was so claustrophobic in the helmet that I had to come back up. That was pretty embarrassing. That being said, I am so jealous that you can scuba dive like that in so many different places. I also grew up going to the beach, so I know what it is like to love the beach and always want to be there. You should definitely take underwater pictures like Julia said. I would love to see some of the pictures!
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We will have to share spring notes. Although I will never be able to scuba dive, I do love snorkeling and spring hopping is my passion. I grade by the water.
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Coral,
I remember you telling me last semester how much you loved to dive, but I didn’t know that you were allowed to dive in the aquariums at Epcot, that is so cool!! I would love to learn how to dive but I think I would end up being a big chicken about it… haha. You’re lucky you grew up so close to two great beaches, I would have loved to live 10-20 minutes away from the beach, instead of an hour!
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Hey Coral,
I love your name, and coral is one of my favorite colors! 🙂
I feel like you are living the Florida life to the fullest… I always thought that living in Florida everyone must swim, scuba dive, know 80% of the beaches, and have visited all theme parks. However, I have not fulfilled most of those (ridiculous) requirements.
Like you, I have never had a blog before and I’m really interested to see where this goes. Also, I hope you post pictures of your diving soon 🙂
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Hi, Coral!
It’s so cool that you dive! I once read that we know more about outer space than we do about our oceans and what exists in them. I don’t know if that’s actually true, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it is. It must be fun to explore underwater!
Congrats on your first blog, and good luck this semester! I look forward to reading your posts.
Sarah
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