Its one of the those things you must do. I am ashamed to say though,i have hardly dived since getting my license about 12 years ago. Normally diving lessons are separated into 2 sections.3 if you must.
One is the classroom section,where they will give you the theories and introduction to dive equipment and safety,etc,etc.Then you have the pool sessions( they will teach you to swim underwater,clear mask,etc). Normally after the pool sessions,they will bring to the sea,where they will have open seas section where you will be tested. They won't take you too deep though.
Maybe about 8-14 metres or so. But trust me,it is fun and if you will never regret it. Beginner courses are called Open Water and there is Advanced diver and so on.
The top of the divers is someone called the Dive Master. He has the rights to teach beginners and so..There are established course operators like PADI,NAUI and also SSI,PADI is one of the more recognised ones. They teach you pretty much the same thing tho.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.