I remember the scariest part of the whole trip was the 5 seconds before I left the plane. As I watched Kelly and Jess jump out and fall at a rediculous speed, I was in such utter shock that I was not at all ready for it when my instructer, Paulo, pushed me out of the plane face first (as I requested). I always thought there would be a "1...2....3...JUMP!" but that was not the case. As I made my way to the door with my instructer on my back, I had the most amazing shot of adrenaline in anticipation of what I was about to do. And before I could even react, we were falling at 120 mph.
Looking back at it, that 45 seconds of freefall was perhaps the best feeling I had ever experienced. The mix of adrenaline, cold air slapping my face, and spinning in circles is simply unexplainable.
The parachute ride down was so serene, yet at the same time, very exciting. I was able to grab the steering straps and steer the parachute for a few minutes. Paolo showed me if I pulled my left strap down to my left knee, we would enter a fast downward tailspin that was so cool. He also showed me that if I pulled both straps down, we would stop on a dime. This was such a weird feeling; to be freely floating through the air, then to suddenly just... stop. Before I knew it, we had reached 1000 feet from the ground, and Paolo took control and landed us perfectly on the ground.
The perfect way to end our trip was the minutes after we landed. All of us were out of our minds on adrenaline and pride, and just hugged and tried to put into words what we just did.
I feel I may still not be far enough removed from the experience to fully express how much it has impacted me, so I hope before the end of the semester to re-visit my skydive. I can confidently say that in the spring, when Skydive New England re-opens, I will skydive again. Paolo told me that skydiving is addictive, and I have a strange feeling that I am addicted.
