Karen89

I love jumping. I would do it full time if I could. Last summer I only worked part time and would be at the dz every single day it was open. Now I don't have that luxury anymore. It's finally hitting me I might not even have enough money to support this hobby. It's funny what you said about the rental gear at the dz. There really are only two rigs that are sized for a small person. I work from 8 A.M. to sometimes 4:30 P.M now about an hour and 10 minutes from the DZ. By the time I get off work, sit in traffic, go home and change, eat, and get to the DZ, I might as well turn around and go back home because I have to get up early the next day to slave away at my job. My job also entitles lots of heavy lifting and by the end of the day, I really don't want to jump out of a plane. I just want to go home and rest my body and mind. It's also very frustrating just waiting as a student (yep, I'm stil a student..have only been able to jump once this year...and before that jump I was all geared up and ready to go but the winds went over 14mph and then I had to wait around for another hour and a half just to jump) and I feel like this whole process just takes longer then I expected. I know I'll skydive for the rest of my life cause I've been thinking about it every single day for the last two years, but I don't think it's gonna be a full time thing. Pfft, I should just go back to working part time and then I would have all the free time in the world! But unfortunately, I need the money for gas, food, car and to even save up for my own gear. I was living in dream world last year when I could jump at least 3-4 times a week. I miss that so much! I didn't even jump that much last summer because of a part time job only. And now I have full time but the weather and my job are just taking away from the enjoyment.

I used to be a swimmer too! Doesn't help when you have no idea that you're doing it! But eventually, I stopped and was able to go on to my first freefall :) Good luck!

That's what I love about jumping! Nothing in the past or future really matters to me and in freefall, I feel really really calm and not panicky!

This what I did before I started to jump again after a long break from jumping due to the weather. I just went to the DZ and hung out. My DZ is a club and pretty small...so of course, everyone wanted to know my story and why I wasn't jumping that day. I was just honest with them. I told them I was just checking it out because I haven't jumped in a few months. They didn't judge me or laugh at me. They just smiled and nodded because they knew I wanted it and a few days later I went back and jumped!

As a student with almost 40 jumps, I still get nervous. This summer hasn't been the best weather for skydiving so sometimes I would go 10-12 days without being able to jump! When I would get geared up my hands would be shaky, but at least I routed my chest strap right and had the padding in the right place. Now I turn my AAD on and that makes me a little nervous. No clue why? If anything happened where I wouldn't be able to pull, hopefully it would safe my life. I feel kind of indifferent at take off..like oh, this is normal. Getting more and more used to being in the plane. I'm in a little Cessna 182,and sit near the pilot so I don't really look out of the plane much. I worry more about my legs or feet falling asleep on the ride up because I'm basically squished with someone between me. I get a little more nervous as we get closer to 10,000 feet (the regular altitude at my dz) and when the door opens, I take a deep breath and tell myself "Well, here it is. Exactly what I have wanted for the past few days." Climbing out on to the step, I don't really think about being nervous. What's the worst that is going to happen? I'm going to fall? I always check my cutaway handle. Always. Also once I open, it's in a different spot, so I look at it there too. My canopy is huge so it's very forgiving. Though on my last jump, last weekend, I opened and my slider wasn't all the way down. I knew immediately something was different. I didn't panic, just told myself that something was different and shook the risers and the slider came down and I said "thank you!" :)

I slipped three times...three times! from those little cessna struts! Eventually, we found out it was because of the duct tape where they marked so the students would know where to put their hands.

Skydiving can be for you if you want it to be. I did two tandems too before I took the solo class. I'm doing IAD, which is different from AFF. Basically, you jump out alone at 3,000 ft and your pilot chute is already out. You have to arch and show a good one before you can do more then 2-3 seconds of freefall before your canopy opens. You just go up higher and higher and get to do the more cool and fun stuff as you make your way up. For me, IAD with that 3,000 ft was the most frustrating. All the other students were progressing and I was still trying to get my arch right...some say I still am not arching right!BUT I finally am doing more free fall time now. I have absolutely no regrets with sticking with it. I always thought to myself, about a month and a half ago, "Is this really for me? Maybe I should just quit now and not do this anymore." But about 3 jumps after that, I was finally pulling my own cord! I think if you keep thinking about it, go for it! I know I always think about it and I get nervous thinking about the next time I will jump, but when I actually do it, I look back and laugh at my nervousness because I had such an awesome time in the sky!

If I knew for a fact I was going to die on my next jump, I wouldn't jump... I'd rather not be a skydiving death statistic. :( It could happen, but the event of it actually happening to me, is very low. All I can do is accept, like they say, "everything can go right and you can still get hurt or die."

I'm a student doing the IAD course. You have to show them the perfect arch for at least 5-6 jumps, and then you get to do a hop and pop. I did waaaayyy too many practice pulls (where the pilot chute is thrown out and you reach back and pull out a newspaper where the pilot usually is) and it really prepared me for my first 5 second...which turned out to be only 2 seconds. Yeah, we don't have a lot of time to get stable. BUT we know all the risks going into this and we accept them.

Surely makes it interesting

The nearest wind tunnel is like 8 hours away :( if I had the money I would lol. But today I did my 3rd 15 second and I did awesome! Instructor says I'm ready for 30 seconds. So that means more turns, flips, and finally tracking! I'm so excited!

For the longest time I was a kicker, and now I am a spinner. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9-Ctc7CtTI No one told me until after this jump to stop the turn, kind of look the other way. On my first 15 second, I know I started to spin like crazy. When I deployed and looked up, LINE TWISTS STRAIGHT FROM HELL were there. I pulled apart the risers and started to kick. Nothing. Okay...looked at altimeter. I have the altitude to work at this. I started to pull even harder and kick even harder too, and it eventually worked out. By the time I got out, I was exhausted! The guy on the ground started to talk to me (even though I told him no, unless I am going off course) because he was afraid I wasn't okay, I guess. I'm still determined to get this all right. I'm on jump 23 and just started free falling, while there is one other girl I know who is on jump 12 and doing barrel rolls. Everyone learns at their own pace. I was also kind of nervous for this jump. In the video, you see me reaching back a million times to check that pilot. I do that on every jump, but this time it felt obsessive to me. Though I know if I don't feel good about being stable and I'm losing altitude I know I can reach back and pull. My brain was definitely playing tricks on me....for some reason 6,000 ft seemed really low to me. You can just imagine my thought process looking at my altimeter at 3,000 ft and saying to myself "I used to get out of the plane here?"

Lol, this whole thread made me laugh. Thanks, guys! It's been a shitty day for me :(

Sadly, this is me. :( But I've been thinking of skydiving every single day for over a year now. The thought of never jumping again...really freaks me out. I'm at the DZ every single day that it is open and nice out. I'm there from start to finish. I wouldn't and couldn't do it any other way.

The closest one is 8 hours away! :( With that money I would use for gas, that's a bunch of jumps. I actually have a pretty good arch. :) After those flips I arched like mad and went right belly to earth. Today is a jumping day, but it's rainy out. :\

I told my instructor on my 5 second delay that most likely I am just going to reach back and pull right away. I did. What I didn't mention here is on Saturday I went to the DZ and was getting ready for the 10 second. But then I just had a really dreaded feeling. I was shaking more then normal and I felt like breaking down and crying. I told them to take me off that load and that I wasn't going to jump that day. I felt real relieved that I wasn't going to be doing a 10 second that day. But then I still wanted to jump. I told them I wanted to do another 5 second. More like a hop and pop. They said they weren't used to people doing that, but they didn't mind. I went up and did a very good hop and pop. Saw the instructor give me the thumbs up after I let go of the strut. That right there gave me the confidence to do the 10 second the next day.

One of my instructors told me usually the ones who are naturals at it and breeze through the IAD course are the ones who don't come back the next summer. They say the ones who struggle and are determined to pass with however many times it takes to get their license usually come back. Not sure if that is what you are looking for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa0S7z4UEFw Surprise! :)

My daddy paid for my 2nd tandem. It was my 23rd birthday present! Best birthday present ever! I've paid for the rest of the jumps. Though...my birthday is in August and I'm hinting for a helmet....hmmmm...

I'm so glad you stuck with it!:) It always makes me happy to see a jumper here with more then 100 jumps tell me that at one point they felt like giving up too, but didn't. I was really back and forth with quitting after the other Tuesday. But then I realized I loved it too much. I know I'll have other hills to climb over. Or maybe I won't. Who knows. That's why I can't quit. I just have to find out on my own and I'm so excited. 10 second delay tomorrow! Ahhh! I'm gonna tinkle myself a bit! :s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogm5aeQp6N0 Edit: I made a clicky! So on Tuesday, I made this post about to give up skydiving. I decided to go back on Saturday (Thursday, we had a huge storm and then by 7 it was beautiful out) and did two jumps. I think the second jump made me feel really confident. Though I felt my legs kicking during the second jump, which is good, cause I'm finally aware of my legs! But bad news because I kicked and needed one more good practice pull. So today I went back and I felt totally relaxed in the plane. I felt confident I could arch. And I did! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIb83XxKOZA My instructor was so happy and they got me back in the plane within the next hour to do my 5 second free fall...was more like a 2 second free fall. It was so weird not having my instructor right there beside me telling me to "get set." I looked over as I began to hang and saw 4 huge smiling faces looking back at me and I had to look away quickly so I wouldn't start laughing. I made it to the 5 second free fall! Well, it was only two seconds, but I'm on to the 10 second next time! It's gonna be a long 10 seconds!! If you are a student and frustrated, I suggest just keep doing the jumps! Don't give in and you will make it!Give it your all and keep learning every single jump, even if you didn't pass the jump, there is many things you can learn, in the air and on the ground!

And this is why sometimes I don't even mention to people I skydive. A lot of people are negative towards it then associate me as a crazy person. I've lost a few friends over it. But I've gained many new ones who get me from skydiving and that's all that matters to me now. :)

Is it weird that I was totally rooting for you and saying "Come on!" and "YES!" the whole time while reading your progress? :P

Thanks for the support you all! It's seriously great for me. It makes me realize that this isn't a mistake. To never give up on this. :) You guys are amazing!

This is coming from a girl who didn't jump out of the plane TWICE because of exactly what you are feeling now. When the door opened I would get like a mini panic attack. I hated myself for a whole week because I didn't jump and told the pilot and instructor I didn't want to go. But now I'm about 12 jumps in the solo IAD course. How did I get over it? Well, I'm not. You are going to feel nervous every time in the plane. Sometimes you might even feel relaxed. How did I get over it and do it? Well...your body and mind is going to feel a lot of weird things because you are about to jump out of an airplane. You are SUPPOSED to feel the way you are your first time. I know I was so scared the first time I decided to get back in the plane the next weekend and as I was stepping out onto the step (Cessna plane) everything in my body and mind told me danger was ahead. But after I let go of the strut, I felt so empowering and awesome and when my canopy opened I had chills all over. I have them now just thinking of it. I decided to let my body feel whatever it is going to and still do it. I haven't regretted it since! Good luck!!!