I ran into the flier for the Flying Gamecocks accidentally. I was looking for something for another club and it caught my eye, I read over the flier and decided that it sounded cool and I should attend the meeting to see if it would be something that I wanted to continue with.

Well ever since I was young I have always wanted to go skydiving and this also seemed like the opportune chance. I attended the meeting and it seemed interesting but I wasn't sure I had the money to do anything. Adam had done a bit of talking about paying for his skydiving by packing parachutes and that had got me interested. After the meeting was over, I confronted him and asked if he could teach me because I was broke and that would be the only way I would ever get to do this. He said he'd talk to some people and the following Wednesday, there we were, back in the meeting room learning how to pack a parachute.

With Adam and the clubs support, I visited the Dropzone weekend after weekend. I fell right into the community and loved being there. I slept in my car and would just go to talk and watch as I wasn't yet certified to pack chutes and I didn't have the money to jump. One of the friends of the club tho who I had met at the beginning was willing to let me pack his chute to learn(as he watched over me of course), and to my surprise after I packed for him a few times with him watching then he just would let me do it all the time without watching! He had seen me and knew that I knew what I was doing. I was on my way to being a packer and getting my first jump in.

After a while of packing for him I was noticed by a few of the other jumpers and was asked personally to pack their chutes for them. As peoples trust for me grew so did the variety of people that would come to me. Finally I was able to get certified to pack rental and student rigs and I did just that. Now I was a real packer packing for the DZ and earning my way to my AFF. Then the day came, a bit of money came into my possession and I was able to lump it with the credit I had at the DZ to get my first few jumps. I called up the DZ and scheduled my AFF as soon as I could. When the day finally came I was extremely excited, I was the only one in the classroom for the AFF course and we flew through the material with ease.

Going through the practice jump was cake as well, I remembered every little thing I was supposed to do and felt so confident. Finally, all that work was going to pay off. I was headed towards the Cessna to go up for my first jump. As the plane took off I had knots all in my stomach, I even have them now reliving the memory. I watched as the ground pulled farther and farther away each moment taking me towards that first jump. Every nerve in my body was tingling and I was only half paying attention to even myself talking and going over the practice jump.

Then the moment came, I was at the door to the plane, feeling the wind blow on my body stronger than I had ever imagined. I had to take my time stepping out because my body wasn't happy about doing what I was and was trying to resist. Then, I went over my cadence, and let go of the plane. WHAT!!! yes, I had just let go of a plane 10.5k feet high and now was free falling towards the earth at about ~120 mph... My brain couldn't handle that thought and as I tell everyone when I retell the story I don't even remember the first 5 seconds of my jump and the rest is sort of just muscle memory from the practice. Once partly stable I got all of the the things I was supposed to do done and then what... my mind blanked... I went out again and don't remember what happened but do remember all of a sudden my instructor pulling my chute for me. Oh no! All of that practice and I screwed up! I didn't even pull my chute the MOST IMPORTANT PART.

But I was alive and thats what mattered. I steered the parachute towards the ground and did what the instructor told me over the radio until I reached the ground safely. I was unhappy though, I had just jumped from a plane and not deployed my parachute, what was wrong... I went inside and went to repack my chute then talk over the jump with my instructors. They told me though that It was normal for people jumping the first time to not pull and that It is usually just that, a first time shock. I hoped they were right and just went on with my day wishing I had done that one part and wondering if it would be the same the next jump.Only one way to find out though!

After almost a week I was able to do my second jump(and third, fourth and fifth I believe). The second one I was scared that I would do the same thing or mess something else up. This one was out of the Twin otter though and there would be even more new stuff to think about. Hopefully it will go fine I thought to myself. After practicing and going through the jump with my instructor we got on the otter to go up. When we reached altitude, I did my cadence again and turned out of the plane. What, oh wait, I know this this time! I was calm, comfortable, and in control! It was amazing! I did everything I was supposed to and uh oh here comes time to pull, but Ill do just that, PULL. I deployed my chute myself and at the right altitude. It was an amazing feeling to have thought from the first jump that I was going to have to work so hard to feel fine up in the air and then going on my second jump and being almost there. It was just that awesome feeling of accomplishment. As I reached the ground and talked with my instructors about everything I was feeling so proud and so hooked onto the sport. I wanted to be able to spend my life jumping from planes and I would work to do just that.

Now I am currently almost at an A license level and the only thing that has kept me from it is that I was away from my home DZ this past summer and didn't have a car to get to the one that was 2.5 hours away. I plan on finishing the license as soon as I get the time to go to the DZ and I cant wait to see everyone there again. This was an extremely great experience for me and is one that will change my life forever in a good way. I learned not to give up after it goes wrong the first time because the problem may just be shock of a first jump or two. Also even if you have no $$ packing parachutes is an extremely good way to earn the money for jumps. If you love it, you'll do anything to do it!

~Patrick Crownover