An Extreme Teacher
Mr. Daniel Golightly doesn’t take his vacations lightly. Extreme vacations are his thing.
SBHS teacher Daniel Golightly genteelly pats a bull shark on its head
October 19, 2023
South Broward High School teacher Daniel Golighly isn’t what you think of when you imagine a thrill seeker. He doesn’t have a huge, muscular body. He doesn’t have an intimidating voice. But, last year, the SBHS job coach jumped into the water with two large Bull Sharks. For the past five years, Golightly has made it his mission to prove that fear is no obstacle when it comes to exploring the world and accomplishing dangerous tasks. Golightly purposely chooses vacations involving dangerous situations such as participating in a MMA fight, paragliding off of mountains in California, snowboarding in virginia, and skydiving outside of plane over the Bahamian Caribbean Sea.
It was during a family trip to the Bahamas that the opportunity to swim with sharks came up and immediately Golightly took it. Normally, while shark diving, most people use a cage, but Golightly saw that there were sharks swirling around the boat, he put on his diving equipment and dove into the sea. Completely aware he would be surrounded by one of the most dangerous shark species known to man, formally known as the bull shark. After diving into the Caribbean Sea. Not only did Golightly swim with sharks, but he also reached out to pet one of them, as if it were a mere puppy.
“To be honest, I purposely put myself in that situation knowing that I would be surrounded, ” said Golightly.
And dangerous sharks aren’t the only creatures he confronts.
He’s even caught a 15 foot Burmese Python in his backyard. “Basically like catching a bug,” says Golightly.
The majority of these adventures come with life-threatening risks, but Golightly takes on every single one with an adventurous point of view. As a result, he says he has gained an amazing experience after each adventure.
“I kind of treated the Bull Shark like I would treat my dog back at home by giving it scratches on his head,” said Golightly.
Golightly’s thinks fear is an emotion developed and taught by humans over time. He believes that as young children, before cowering in fear, we are more likely to be curious than conscious. He thinks that each of us must confront our own fears; we must come face to face with them.
“How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives, ” says Golightly. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it.
He says that people who want to go on extreme adventures, but their fear of flying or driving gives them pause, then they might feel like their fear is stopping you from living their dreams or holding them back from new experiences.
“I recommend that everyone participates in at least one thrilling adventure, trust me the experience is worth it to face your fear with a more challenging mindset will help you learn to better handle it,” said Golightly.
He says that people who want to go on extreme adventures, but their fear of flying or driving gives them pause, then they might feel like their fear is stopping you from living their dreams or holding them back from new experiences.
