Mentor Spotlight: Greta Fust

Greetings GRP family,

I am spending my days diving in habitats at the North Carolina Aquarium - Roanoke Island and Jennette’s Pier in Manteo, NC. Regular scuba gear is worn to clean larger habitats. For smaller ones, I wear a weighted harness for buoyancy and rescues, and breathe through a hookah system, a regulator hooked to an air cylinder outside of the habitat. Wetsuits and booties keep me safe from most fish bites, though some have given me a haircut, yikes! Most days I stay out of the water tending to other divers as their safety support, and then usually only dive once on dive days. The Graveyard of the Atlantic is the largest habitat and includes a daily dive show on a full-face mask system with microphone, and I get to answer questions guests may have. The less glamorous parts of the job include scrubbing algae off surfaces and scooping out detritus, though I find it quite satisfying. As Mike Lowe would say, “it’s a dirty job, but someone’s gotta do it.” When there aren’t dives happening, I help aquarists feed the sharks, freshwater fish and turtles, and I sometimes get to help in the sea turtle hospital.

Outside of work, I am enjoying all that OBX has to offer. That means weekly “polar bear challenges” in the cold ocean, beach combing, and learning about coastal plants. While no community will ever compare to GRP, I am making fast friends with my co-workers and other residents in my building. It’s allowing me to keep my bracelet making skills sharp as well!

To wrap things up, I offer this:

The lessons learned at camp, the Woodcraft Laws and the community we built, all contribute to “I’m my best me at GRP.” But that mindset doesn’t go away when we leave. In this off season, I strive to be “a great me at the sea” and know that y’all are being “a great you everywhere else, too.”

Seek the joy. I’ll see you next summer,

Greta Fust