vonSanta 0 #1 August 6, 2003 Was thinking about this. My younger sister always was an overachiever. Very silent type, but doggedly determined. Not very social, quite intellectual. Med student with great grades and a bright future career. She started skydiving in 2000. Today I hardly recognize her. She's much more laid back, social and has a crooked grin on her face. Very popular at her DZ, always helping students etc. But the assertiveness she's gained is amazing. She's still a good student, almost done with the med thing but the career is now a means to an end. She works, finds a DZ that's open and goes skydiving. Everything else is secondary. So she convinced me to start as well a few months ago. I was so scared shitless, thinking 'this is my last day alive, possibly, probably aagh' when I awoke the day I was going to jump. That was 18 jumps ago - went through AFF. And am now beginning to understand how she must feel. Yesterday I spent my last food-money on skydiving. Had a great jump where I transitioned from box to sitfly to stand to box repeatedly. Another on my back trying (unsuccesfully) to back track. What fun. Sis di an exit where she turned around in the air, big grin, two victory signs to my face. Am thinking this shared interest will get us even closer to each other. Now I think I am beginning (if I am not already) to get hooked. I'm still a little nervous in the plane but as soon as the door opens I am thinking "GO GO GO, MY TURN SOON!". Wearing a shit eating grin from the time I exit the plane til the day after. My priorities seem to shift. Getting cash for a rig and jumping is now top priority. My clothes are worn, my puter is growing old and my friends are sick of never seeing me. 21st to 24th there's a boogie with an Antonov 28. If you asked me two months ago whether I looked forward to it I'd say 'nope, that stuff is dangerous/scary'. Today those days are more important than job interviews and my own birthday. Wonder where I'll be in a year? Maybe my sis is right when she says 'I've always corrupted you, this ain't new. You're just too dumb to notice'. Santa Von GrossenArsch I only come in one flavour ohwaitthatcanbemisunderst Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Viking 0 #2 August 6, 2003 I was very introverted before i started skydiving. Its amazing how jumping out of a plane can change the way a person lives there life, the way they deal with situations and life in general! But more than the jumping, more than the danger and the excitement of it all, its that smile of the person in freefall with you and the family you join that hooks so many people. I swear you must have footprints on the back of your helmet - chicagoskydiver My God has a bigger dick than your god -George Carlin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vonSanta 0 #3 August 6, 2003 Yah, but it is sorta scary the way the old friends are put in the background. I feel almost guilty, but I'm almost a little bored hanging out with them and I am sure they're tired of hearing me go on and on about skydiving. And feel a little bad about wanting to be somewhere else when I am with them. They've gone through it before 8the old friends) with scuba diving, but now there's an extra time consumer. When it rains I go scuba diving, when it's good weather - sky diving. Haven't spent a weekend with friends for three months. Job, career - uninteresting a means to an end. Status/intellectual pursuit - the latter used to be a biggie with me, I'm a raptuous reader - well, status don't mean a thing and I read now to pass time not 'edumacate' myself. A bit weird, the change in priorities. But music sounds better now, so it must be good. Santa Von GrossenArsch I only come in one flavour ohwaitthatcanbemisunderst Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BBKid 0 #4 August 6, 2003 Same feeling with me. When I started skydiving I was getting stressed out at college with concerns about my grades and my future. Now I just want to get enough money to get a rig, jump tickets, and of course, beer! If I have to do an unfulfilling job in an office to do that, then so be it, although I'm not applying for any jobs involving offices! As far as the issue of friends goes, where I live I don't have that many friends that I see often anyway, and those I do have are moving away soon to start their posh graduate jobs. I don't let skydiving get in the way of seeing my friends from Uni, as I'm aware how easy it is to lose touch, and they are some of the best friends anyone could hope for. Viking is right, we do have a great family in the sky, even if we bicker and argue like 'real' families when we're on the ground or on these boards. Nevertheless, we still all share the same passion and desire to learn more, no-one says you need books to learn, just an open mind (I was just coming round to this realisation when I started jumping). The fact that we're all jumpers (well, most of us here) means that we have a link to peoplemwe've never met, at DZ's all over the world. So, we may not all be as popular or well-known as Viking, but I'll still jump with almost anyone, anywhere, anytime. Once I clear student status, of course! Nick --------------------------- "I've pierced my foot on a spike!!!" Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bobsled92 0 #5 August 6, 2003 It made leaving Bobsled &Skeleton a lot easier on me, psychologicaly. Like trading sports rahter than quitting after many years._______________________________ If I could be a Super Hero, I chose to be: "GRANT-A-CLAUS". and work 365 days a Year. http://www.hangout.no/speednews/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jayruss 0 #6 August 6, 2003 I too was very introverted before I started skydiving, there is just something about this sport that brings out the best in everyone. I know that skydiving has taught me to drink and swear . . . but its also taught me that there is a group of accepting people that let you be who you are. I think the all-accepting environment is what makes the DZ seem like home. I’m going on my 7th year in the sport and spend more time with skydivers than family, but in reality skydivers have become my family. No other sport has this dynamic. __________________________________________________ "Beware how you take away hope from another human being." -Oliver Wendell Holmes Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #7 August 6, 2003 I wasn't exactly introverted before I started jumping, I was mainly just someone who focused all the time on my career, school, blah. Then a new world opened up. My first tandem showed me excitement and love. When I started my AFF almost a year afte that tandem, life did change. I learned that I am capable of far more than I thought. I go before an asshole judge thinking, "I've hung on to the outside of a plane at 13,000 feet and let go. This guy thinks he scares me?" I can handle nervousness now. Thanks to this sport, I relish it! More than anything, I am totally safety oriented since I started skydiving. I don't even put on Rollerblades anymore without a helmet and wrist guards. It taught me about managing risks. Sure, I don't look cool, but looking liek a dork feels better than a fractured skull. My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tbrown 26 #8 August 6, 2003 Skydiving really drew me out of my shell when I was in college. It gave me a lot more self confidence. It's funny because nowadays, after returning to the sport, it's giving me back something that was gone for so long I didn't even realize it was missing. After even one jump I'm calm and on top of life for days. Your humble servant.....Professor Gravity ! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkyAnt 0 #9 August 6, 2003 I found it a little difficult to fit in around the DZ at first, then one day I mooned the crowd and they seemed to find a whole new respect fo me. "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
