In the Spring of 2009 I had a sudden urge to do something out of my element and a few hours later I was signed up to go SkyDiving out of SkyDive San Marcos! I had never really contemplated doing anything like that, but it definitely seemed like something that everyone should try at least once in their lifetime so I decided why not, and scheduled my jump for a few days after the end spring semester.
When the day finally came, I journeyed out to the jump site and took part in the pre-jump preparations. I had to be fitted with a suit and was given a few words of advice before I was set to go and awaiting my turn to jump. There were a few dozen people out there of all different backgrounds who were jumping for various reasons but most importantly, we were all there for the same purpose. After a couple of hours, my turn came to ascend into the sky with my tandem instructor and we boarded the plane for launch.
We climbed over ten thousand feet above the ground before the door was rolled open and we were standing on the edge of the aircraft. I’s a surreal feeling, looking out across the horizon, knowing that there is a small chance that this could be the last thing that you do in your life. Before I could soak it all in we hurdled forward, falling at over 120MPH towards the ground. Free-fall is a hard thing to explain but if I had to try, I would compare it to floating in a swimming poll without water. The air provides some resistance but you are essentially free to flail about as you fall back towards Earth. After a few smiles and skyward thumbs for the camera I became disinterested in the fall and actually took to looking about across the landscape thinking about the amazing view that birds must have of our world. Eventually our free-fall time drew to a close and the tandem instructor pulled the chute to prevent the otherwise impending doom awaiting us a few thousand feet below. We coasted through the sky until we finally swooped down to the ground and landed a few hundred yards from where we departed.
Ultimately, it was a great experience and something that I will always remember, but it is definitely not something I plan to do again. While it was awesome to do once, it didn’t really excite me beyond the initial adrenaline rush and to me there is no real sense of accomplishment in being able to say that I went SkyDiving. I find climbing a mountain or learning a foreign language much more rewarding but I do feel that without a doubt, everyone should try it at least once in their lifetime.