Skydiving: A Great Start to a Summer Break

Friday was my last official day at school and as soon as I got home from school my summer break adventures began. We headed down to Jackson for the evening because Saturday morning Bryan and I were going skydiving with a group from Highland Park (our church in Jackson). I don't have a list of things I particularly want to do in my life but if I had one, I am not sure skydiving would have ever been on it. But since the opportunity arised I decided to act upon it. Saturday morning we all met at the church and then drove to a small air strip outside of Bolivar, TN. Our friends Nathan and Kelly also came with us to help us document the event. After we all arrived we watched a short video about the legalities of skydiving and then we registered. Bryan and I were supposed to be in the first group to go but all the groups got mixed up and we ended up being in the 7th group so we were able to watch everyone else in our group of about 20 go. Bryan's brother, Matt, ended up going first and after I saw him land safely and talked to him I felt confident that I was not going to die. Did I mention I wrote out a brief will and said my goodbyes to everyone in my journal that morning? :) I wasn't really scared about skydiving but I was almost convinced I was going to die doing it. After I saw several successful dives and landings that feeling of dying faded away.
When it finally came to the point where we were to suit up, I felt ready. We were taught how to sit and stand in the plane and what position you needed to be in while in free fall. That was about all that was needed to be able to jump "tandem." I jumped with Bud. He had over 1600 jumps and was super nice so I was pleased with my pairing. After all, I was putting all of my trust and my life in his hands. We boarded the plane and we rose to 14,600 ft. On our way up I started to finally get nervous. I kept thinking there is no turning back now, I have to jump. It took about 8 minutes to reach the correct altitude and then the plane leveled off and your body is basically forced to stand. It felt kind of like the feeling when you get going over a hill really fast, where you feel weightless. Then the clear, plexiglass door was opened and the wind gushed in so fast and loud. The first pair inched to the door and instantly they were gone, like they were just sucked out. That is when I was overcome with fear. Then the next pair went and then the next and the next. Finally it was our turn to creep to the door. The plane was small so you had to stay bent over but you also had to keep you back straight because it was attached to your tandem jumper. I walked to the door and I had to hang my toes over the edge. Then Bud rocked me out a little, said "one, ready, jump" and out we went. We did several flips and I was able to see the bottom of the plane for a second and then flipped again and we sped for two miles at 120 mph in free fall. It was a minute long but it felt like 10 seconds. It was the fastest minute of my life I think. It was so cold and it was hard to breathe because the air was going into your nose and mouth so fast. Soon after the parachute opened and we floated through a cloud. That was amazing. You would think a cloud would be wet but it wasn't. You could only see that you were falling through it, you can't feel anything. Bud let me take over the canopy and he taught me how to steer and then we did some twirlies. It was so amazing and the view was breathtaking. The whole thing actually lasted about six minutes once we jumped out of the plane but it felt so short. We were in our landing position and touching down on the ground again before I knew it. The experience was absolutely awesome and it was a great way to start a summer break! I would do it again in a heartbeat (if it was free :)).