Heights, roller coasters, and plane rides never scared me. But somehow neither did the idea of jumping out of a plane 12,00 feet in the air. I actually think I like heights, but I wouldn't call myself an adrenaline junkie. After all of the horror stories about skydiving, I did have my doubts. Of course, I thought, "What if my parachute doesn't open?" and "I'm going to get up there and be too scared to jump." over and over again at night for weeks. But as daunting as it sounds, I agreed to go skydiving.
For my 18th birthday, my dad and I went skydiving in Chicago. My dad has jumped a few times before, so this was nothing new for him. He is the one whose idea it was, and he is really good at convincing me to do crazy things like this. Strangely enough, I was actually excited to jump out of a plane. But as soon as I began putting my harness on, my hands started to sweat and the nerves kicked in. As they were explaining what to do once we were in the air, I got extremely nervous. How was I going to do this? Am I going to make it out alive? #%*#&*#
After this nerve-wracking little lesson, it was time to go. We walked towards the plane and all piled in. Everyone in the plane was so excited to jump out of a plane, and I was too, but the plane was getting higher and higher. Everyone was screaming to talk to each other over the noise of the plane while I kept looking out the window. The plane ride literally felt 30 seconds long, but we had made it all the way up to the clouds. Once they opened the door, the wind came ripping through and somehow made the plane even louder. I got to watch a few guys before me jump. Once they jumped, they literally disappeared into the sky; they vanished. I didn't see them, but I also didn't look too hard because I was too scared to look over the edge.
Before I knew it, it was my turn to jump. Like it was really about to happen; I was about to jump out the side of a plane. I didn't know what was going on because it happened so fast, but all of a sudden I was standing on the edge. My adrenaline was through the roof. I couldn't comprehend what was about to happen. And then, I hear my instructor yelling, "Ready...3..2..1...JUMP!"
We leaned out of the side of the plane and down we went.
Free falling in the middle of the sky, light as a feather, looking over miles and miles of Chicago. I could see the earth curve and I could touch clouds. It was breathtaking.
Also, the wind was also smacking me in the face, but I was mesmerized by the view and the fact that I was literally falling through the sky really distracted me.
Once you jump, those will be the best few seconds of your life.
Within what felt like seconds, we were at 6,000 feet, which meant it was time to pull the parachute string. I had to fight the wind to even get my arm back. As soon as I pulled the string, we were jolted back up into the air for a second just to come gliding all the way down to the ground. Enjoy this time - the view is incredible. I was in complete shock at this point and felt euphoric. We floated down and around for about 15 minutes until we finally reached the ground. I gave the ground a big kiss and ran with my shaky knees over to my dad who I got to watch land.
Skydiving in one word: exhilarating.
After jumping, I didn't feel like I was falling. The wind pushes back on you so hard that it almost feels like you're laying on something. While it is terrifying to be so high in the air and to jump out of a plane, it is exhilarating and rewarding. Your adrenaline is so high that you can barely process what is going on, so you just have to do it.
I am so happy that I went skydiving. It was an amazing experience that made me conquer my fears and gave me a new found appreciation for plane rides. I think that being a skydiving instructor would be such a thrilling job. The girl I was tandem with absolutely loves her job. She has great stories, has been skydiving around the country, and she gets to go skydiving every day. I am already planning my next jump, because yes, I can't wait to go again!
