For my 18th birthday, I decided to take a dive.

Out of a plane.

This past Sunday, that wish came true.

This past Sunday, I got to have the experience of skydiving for my 18th birthday. I had wanted to do it earlier, but the weather said otherwise. Disappointment filled me. I had to reschedule something I had been looking forward to for a month, but Thanksgiving break went by extremely fast so it didn’t feel that long.

The plane ride up took the longest. The whole ride up I was nervous about what would happen. I knew that I wasn’t going to get hurt during this, but the fear of what might happen overwhelmed me. About halfway up, the videographer did a mini interview inside the plane. When we got to the drop point, they opened the door on the side of the plane, and I could feel my heart drop in fear. When my turn to jump came, the videographer hung on the side of the plane,  ready to film. When I jumped, it took a few seconds for my brain to process what just happened.

When I fell, I could see all the way from Whitewright to Dallas to Frisco, probably because I was 14,000 feet in the air. The free fall lasted for about a minute – a long minute – a forever minute.

Time stood still alongside me.

At 6,000 feet the cord had to be pulled, releasing the parachute. The ride down was beautiful. All of the surrounding houses looked like little lego bricks. When we were gliding down to the earth I got to steer the parachute, which surprised me because most places don’t let you steer while in the air.

When I finally hit the ground, I was completely  stunned by what I had just done. Some workers removed the parachute from my back and then the videographer made another interview with me on the ground. I couldn’t look at the camera because the sun blinded me as I tried. The experience was exhilarating, and I would definitely recommend it – but not in the winter because of the low that day was 26. If you are afraid of heights, I wouldn’t recommend this for obvious reasons. I can still vividly see the landscape in my mind when I jumped out of the plane, and am going to skydive again sometime.

Overall, it was pretty boring – NOT.

The videographer: Fernanda Macias took both the photo and the video at Skydive Spaceland Dallas.