Skydive

By V. Feyling

As I get suited up, I can feel my heart racing and the butterflies starting to flutter. To start off this New Year, my boyfriend and I decided to take an adrenaline jump of a lifetime. We hop in and I soon realize, there is no turning back–I’m going to jump out of this plane. 

I can feel the forced smile on my face as my skydiving instructor, Sean, rotates the GoPro towards me and says, “You excited?”

All snug in this tiny little aircraft, I look out the window in fear, focusing on the absolutely stunning Santa Barbara horizon.

It felt like it was taking hours on the way up, or it was just my mind thinking insane thoughts. While in the air, Sean begins to suit us up together attaching various hooks to one another, which gave me peace of mind.

As I feel my ears popping, we reach our desired altitude of 13,000 feet. My boyfriend, Max, and his instructor open the door of the plane and dangle their feet out of the plane. I can’t help but laugh thinking, “Oh God, this is nuts.” In an instant, they were gone.

The butterflies can’t stop–I look at the door in awe. My body is stiff; there is a drip of sweat on my hairline, and my palms are getting clammy in these gloves. He hands me a pair of unfashionable goggles and tells me to put them on–as soon as I get them on, he starts to maneuver both of us closer to the door.

Before long, we were dangling our feet out, I can feel the wind pushing against my black vans, and my jeans rubbing up against this big yellow suit I’m wearing. Sean pushes my head against his shoulder and yells “don’t look down.”

My face is completely numb; my heart is racing and my body feels like it is being pushed against concrete. Our bodies were falling back down to earth at 120MPH, and it was fantastic.

Not only was the view breathtaking enough, but the piercing wind against my face also wasn’t helping me catch my breath.

Sean discharged the parachute, and we began to glide through the sky as he quickly said, “congrats you are now a skydiver.”

Although it felt like an eternity climbing up to 13,000 feet, it was very rewarding after he took my goggles off so I could enjoy the breeze. It gave me such a sense of fulfillment being able to say to myself, “I had the guts to do this.” 

We were gliding through the air for approximately one minute, and it was a marvelous minute at that. We safely landed on none other than a bed of rocks, which I surprisingly didn’t stick my landing and managed to slip and fal–sorry Sean!

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I hope everyone can enjoy, especially in sunny Santa Barbara.