young blood!

[Zeito 0]

Hey everybody,

Just completed my first ever skydive on the 7th! Everything went well. Had an amazing time, can't wait to jump again!

I am going to pursue my licensure but am just a little turned off by the cost of it all! Being a broke college student $209.00 a jump is nothing easy to part with! Does that even sound like a reasonable figure for a tandem jump? I have no idea... I am so green to this sport. All I know is that I'm in love....!

[Zeito 0]

And ever since I've been planning on going... and especially now that I've done it... I've really been getting alot of shit from people, saying stuff like "Oh you're just young and doing young things." which is starting to piss me off quite frankly. I'm trying to relish in the glory of accomplishment and am being met with much animosity. Perhaps I just need to vent, and thought maybe someone can level with my frustration.

[hub1100 0]

First of all, WELCOME to the skydiving community and those who know the experience.

Then, not that you are my son but, I have told my daughters;
Facebook is going to be their downfall, TALK with real people and gossip on Facebook. In 'our' case the real people are on the DZ, and in your case they also exist in school. Both places where YOU are accepted for yourself. My place is at work, too.

Finally, do vent here, carefully. THIS is your thread and all about you, just as I expect my intro thread to be about me. Do not rush through your AFF levels or your money. I had to take 20 years off to raise a family and then the community took me back in. YES skydiving is addictive, adrenaline filled, and expensive. As long as the DZ is safe, it will be there !

Anyone can swim, only a few swim well.
Anyone can skydive, everyone can skydive well. Practice!

[skymama 35]

Welcome to the forums!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[Zeito 0]

I never really had any justified suspicion that the price was unfair. More less just threw that bit in as a conversation piece. My exit was at 10,000 ft, and no, went the budgeted route with no video. As for getting another job... well... I'm a full time student attempting to get into quite the competitive graduate program (anesthesiologist assistant) at quite the exclusive college (Case Western Reserve University). So not much time to plug into a second job! As for right now that absolutely has to be a priority... But transfusion medicine does pay out rather nicely in the mean time, so extra cash flow is not completely out of the question. The only toy I could possibly cut loose would be my motorcycle...... annnd fat chance of that, it's my first love.

I guess my plan at this point is to put away a small amount and jump whenever I have the funds together. Is there any statute of limitations on getting your license? I wouldn't think that one can jump, ya know, like 1x a year for 25 or however many years and expect licensure!

[skymama 35]

If you're a student skydiver, you need to make your jumps within 30 days of each other. If you are an A license holder, you need to jump within 60 days. If you don't, you just have to jump with an Instructor to show you still know what you're doing. Not a big deal, but you'll have to pay extra to cover the Instructor's slot on the plane and whatever fee he or she charges.

I think focusing on your studies and setting money aside is a good plan!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[Zeito 0]

yea I figured it was something like that... thank you for the info! I intend on calling the school sometime this week to schedule my second jump... So excited!

[dthames 0]

Static Line or Instructor Assisted Deployment will be cheaper per jump but will take more jumps to get to solo status. Most of my SL jumps were at a DZ for $75 per jump. At another DZ, $45 if you packed the rig.

If you have money issues, you might consider other training methods. Most smaller DZs offer one of the two methods listed above.

Instructor quote, “What's weird is that you're older than my dad!”

[Zeito 0]

Thank you I will ask about those as well...

[Divinfool 0]

IMHO... get your schooling finished and make it a goal (reward) to get your AFF completed when you finish school. As a professional in the medical community, you will have time and money to do it as much as you like when you finish. My daughter is starting med school in August at USF and that is my recommendation to her. Just my 2 cents.

Fear is the thief of dreams.....

[Zeito 0]

Yea I'm thinking that's going to be the most practical route for me anyway. I will jump (for now) as often as I can comfortably afford both money and time wise... and then buckle down once I fall into a stable career situation. But in the meantime, I'm still anxious to gather every bit of intel on the sport as I can!