Water covers about 71 percent of the earth’s surface, leaving oceans, lakes, rivers, lagoons, and fjords ripe for exploration. Entire communities of aquatic creatures and a world of coral reefs, shipwrecks, and underwater caves lie below the tides we see on land, and some of these hidden gems are as close as the bottom of Lake Michigan.

Jobs didn’t fall into place so easily, however, and after a couple of flops trying to work at other scuba shops, he finally said “screw this” and took matters into his own hands.

Hallie Brewer is a military veteran who received an LSC scholarship along with her husband, Jed. Hallie found out about LSC’s Military Program through an online search and applied for the organization’s joint scholarship for veterans and family members.

The underwater world doesn’t mess around. “They have a very simple structure down there,” Huff says. “If you piss something off, it will probably eat you.” Although facing the depths and unusual creatures may seem overwhelming, there’s also something therapeutic, divers say, about relinquishing yourself to the water and the feeling of submerging yourself in a different substance and environment.

2338 W. Fullerton, 773-599-3483, learnscubachicago.org.