I’ve wanted to jump out of a plane for a few years now. Yes, I mean literally.
As a self-proclaimed adventurous person, I’ve always wanted to try different outdoor activities. From ziplining to bungee jumping, I want to experience everything at least once in my life (my bucket list is honestly a bit dangerous, but hey, it’s now or never). Hell, parasailing in Hawaii two summers ago was kind of a dream come true, as well as driving an ATV around a flower field in Japan this past July. Skydiving is just another thing on my bucket list, and it’s always fascinating to me how people actually make a living out of jumping out of planes. It also doesn’t really help that growing up with Wii Sports Resort (a goated game. I miss it so much) also kind of fueled my interest just a bit.
This is kind of why I didn’t expect to get to skydive once during my time in Iowa, let alone being my first semester in my first year.
This experience is definitely one I will absolutely never forget. I loved every single bit of it and have zero regrets (aside from being $400 poorer, but that doesn’t count). If you’re even the slightest bit interested in skydiving, here is a rundown of what happened.
Iowa Skydiving Club
@uiowaskydiving on Instagram
First of all, I want to thank the Iowa Skydiving Club (Logan, our president, is the best) for making this entire experience possible. I honestly might have never gotten to do this if it wasn’t for this club.
I found this club by pure accident when I was just scrolling on Engage at the beginning of September to see what clubs and organizations I could join. I first saw there was a Ski & Snowboard Club (which I am really excited to participate in), but then I scrolled a bit further down, and the name “Iowa Skydiving Club” appeared on my screen. Out of curiosity, I went to Instagram to see if they had their own page, and to my surprise, an account with a matching name showed up. There was a post that mentioned their first informational meeting, so I attended said meeting to learn about the club and skydiving in general. In that meeting, it was mentioned that there would be two grill outs during this fall semester, one on September 17th, and the other on October 1st. At first, I was worried that we could only go to the grill outs if we were jumping, but Logan clarified that we could also just go to hang out.
First Grill Out
Come September 17th, by 9:30 am I was in a car on the interstate going to the drop zone (thank you Alyssa for driving us). As we drove further away from campus, the realization that there actually was a skydiving drop zone just a mere 45 minutes away from campus began to set in my mind. When we got to the drop zone, we were greeted by not only great people but also two dogs (another one was in the office). I watched as Alyssa greeted the staff and other skydivers (Alyssa was working to get her A-license) and my friends played with the dogs (I’m unfortunately allergic to pets, so I just stood to the side and made sure I didn’t touch the dogs with my hands). As the first group to get to the drop zone, we sat for about 45 minutes before more people showed up. Logan later moved a grill seemingly out of nowhere and started laying out the food (and also realized that we didn’t have enough plates and tissues).
At around 11:30 a.m., the first student went to get their harness on. After putting on the bulky gear (the harness looked quite hunky at first glance), she waited for around 10 minutes before getting on the plane. We watched as the plane zoomed up into the air, and soon it was out of sight. About 15 minutes later, I stepped out of the shed to see if our fellow skydiver was anywhere to be seen, and sure enough, a bright orange parachute was visible amidst a clear blue sky. The parachute dangled in the air for around 5 minutes until it reached the ground, and the skydiver ran back to the shed with a big grin on her face.
As more people showed up and the burger patties cooked, students were taking turns going up in the plane and jumping back down. Every single person came back with a dopey smile on their red-tinted face, and I started wondering if it really was that amazing. This went on for about 3 hours, with the people remaining under the shed chattering and laughing at each other’s jokes. At around 2 p.m., people started filtering out to get back home, and my carpool group remained to wait for Alyssa to finish all her stuff. We left the drop zone at around 4:30 pm, and I got back to my dorm 45 minutes later and immediately crashed onto my chair and dozed off for a good 20 minutes.
Second Grill Out + My Skydive
Two weeks later on October 1st, it was the second grill out of the semester, and also the day I would be the one jumping out of the plane. I had been counting down the days over the last two weeks, eager to experience what it was like to be falling from almost 3 miles above the ground.
The day started off like last time. I (along with two other girls who also live in Mayflower) got picked up by Alyssa at around 9:30 a.m. We got to the drop zone 45 minutes later, and this time we were greeted by not only the staff and the dogs but also Logan (he stayed the night because of an event the previous day). We put our stuff down on the chairs, and my fellow skydiving buddy Sophie and I went to pay for our jumps. Half an hour later, we hear our names and are called over to get ready for our jumps. We meet our instructors and go over safety protocol and the jumping procedure before we put on our harnesses. After our harnesses were on, we waited anxiously for the next move; both of us were visibly so excited and nervous at the same time that we were jittering and hopping around as the time ticked by.
At some point, we shot our initial interviews (we both bought the video package) and got our last pre-jump photos, before we were walked over to the plane. It was at this moment when I realized that I really was about to risk my life just to experience falling from 14,000 ft above the ground at 120 miles per hour. We crammed into the tiny plane and took off, and it was so amazing to see the drop zone shed get smaller and smaller as we flew higher into the sky. The view from the plane was absolutely stunning; the green terrain spanning as far as I could see, the moving vehicles seeming like ants, and the windmills as small as toothpicks. The cold wind blew against our faces and froze our hands, so we closed the door to get warmer.
Finally, the door was opened again. My videographer then somehow moved himself to cling onto the outside of the plane like he was Spiderman. Then, my instructor and I moved so that we were sitting (I was hanging on) the ledge, where I looked down at how high I was in the air before giving the camera a final “pre-takeoff” wave. My instructor gave a countdown, and as soon as he hit one, we jumped off.
The first 10 seconds were the scariest part of the entire experience. The sudden feeling of falling so fast and spinning in the air took me a bit to get used to, but we somehow got to the proper position, and I wasn’t scared anymore. It was exhilarating. Although the wind blowing against my face made it hard to breathe without covering my nose and mouth, it was so fun to feel like nothing (except for my instructor) was holding me back and I was freefalling in the air without care (hey that rhymed!). I tried to interact with the camera as much as I could, like waving or expressing my excitement. At some point, my instructor was giving a signal (that I could not see) that he would pull the parachute open, and the rebound surprised me when he did.
If I had to pick a favorite part of my skydive, it would honestly be coming back down with the parachute. The slow descent as I took in the scenery felt surreal. It was as if I was suspended in the air while everything else was still moving below me. The grass and corn still blew in the wind, the cars and trucks still drove, and the windmills still spun. My instructor made us do a few turns and spins in the air, and I, like the child I am, spread my arms out like a plane as I seemingly reached for nothing and everything at the same time. As we got closer to the ground, I watched Sophie land first and filmed her post-jump interview. We landed with a thud, and when I stood up to get my interview done, I briefly noticed myself smiling the entire time. I could not believe that just minutes ago, I was up in the sky falling without any thoughts other than amusement.
After Sophie and I took off our harnesses, we went back to the shed with smiles and giggles. More people showed up while we were in the sky, and we expressed our thoughts and excitement to everyone. The rest of the grill out went by as last time (with the exception of also playing Cards Against Humanity and Uno this time), except this time despite having my right ear feel weird from the jump, I was grinning like an idiot the entire time.
Would I do this again? Absolutely (if money wasn’t an issue). This was amazing and nothing could ever replace this entire experience. The last section isn’t even halfway to how I wanted to properly describe everything, but I’m not that great of a writer and don’t have the proper words to use. If you want to experience something new and absolutely insane (and you don’t fear heights), I’d say skydiving is worth a shot.
