I Believe I Can Fly

It’s been awhile since I have posted on my blog, and for that I apologize! Despite being on the other side of the world, the concept of being an adult is still just as challenging and time-consuming. However, all of these troubles and stressors were immediately swept away last week back in Queenstown, New Zealand.

For this Spring Break, the University and I were able to set me up with an amazing 10-day bus tour around the South Island of New Zealand. One of my favorite destinations during the tour was Queenstown. This is where I skydived for the first time!

Being at 15,000 feet above New Zealand is a feeling that is so difficult to put into words. Having a history of being afraid of heights, I was expecting to be scared out of my mind. Surprisingly, I was not scared but more excited about the adventure and thrill that awaited me. This is not to say that my heart didn’t feel like it was going to fly out of my chest. All of the senses are in overdrive, trying to process every moment. The flight to the drop-zone at 15,000 feet was the longest 15 minutes of my life! As I hung onto the edge of the plane, I could hear nothing but the air whipping past my ears and see nothing below me but clouds. I felt my guide hit both my shoulders, signaling if I was ready to go. Before I could give him the thumbs-up, we were out of the plane. This moment was the most terrifying but also the most exhilarating moment. After those initial seconds of freefall, nothing filled me except the feeling of ultimate freedom. Despite the air drying up my mouth immediately, I couldn’t help but smile and scream with excitement.

After touch-down, you would think that the experience would be over. However, the experience stuck with me for hours. I continued to process what had just happened. The more I think about it, I realize that skydiving is a lot like the studying abroad experience. All of these feelings you have planning out your trip and finally going out and doing it leaves you with a rush of emotions that cannot be experienced anywhere else. You learn more about yourself and how you handle those emotions. Just like my experience skydiving, I hope that my study abroad experience also sticks with me for the rest of my life.

Enjoy these skydiving pictures! Obviously, the pictures can never do it justice.

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