Greetings, from 10,000 feet: 18 students including the Talon editor and Jamison Adams, the recreational sports coordinator went skydiving at the Gladewater airport this weekend

When I woke up Saturday morning I had no idea I would soon be hurtling toward the ground at 120 miles an hour 10,000 feet above East Texas.

I’m trying to recall an old saying about “best laid plans.”

Photographer Bryan Baggett opened the door to the tiny four-person airplane.

“Are you ready for this,” he yelled to me. The wind rushed by the airplane and the pilot cut the engines off.

“I guess I have no choice,” I said.

The Trip

Freshman finance major Michele Strickler suits up with Lee Todd before a jump. Photo by Christy Grant.

“Grab the strut. And don’t forget to arch your back,” he said.

It was a simple instruction the Skydive East Texas staff gave every diver.

I never asked what happened if someone didn’t arch their back.

I stepped on the platform, grabbed the strut, and, as he instructed, placed my hands across my chest. Silva took off. He jumped right off the strut with me attached to his belly. The air wooshed through my entire body, hair, clothes and nostrils.

It’s a feeling incomparable to anything else. For the first few seconds it felt like the entire world is rushing at me faster than my brain could comprehend it.

It felt like flying – or as “Toy Story’s” Woody said – falling with style.

Only one problem – I did what I usually do in a time of great distress – I curled up into the fetal position.

University student Mir Alikhan, bottom, and tandem instructor Justin Silva jump out of an airplane Sunday at the Gladewater airport. Photo by Bryan Baggett.

It never felt like that stomach-crunching feel on a roller coaster.

It’s like when you’re going down the highway at 70 miles per hour – you don’t feel any different than when you’re at 20 miles per hour, unless you’re accelerating.

It was like flying, if not for the stuff on the ground rapidly getting bigger. And then it all slowed down.

Justin opened the parachute and we began our descent.

But I’m going to warn the male readers – the harness I was strapped in to was fairly tight around the nether regions, and once the parachute opened, it was the only thing holding my body. The trip to the landing zone, however, was breathtaking.

As we glided I apologized to Justin for curling in the fetal position in perhaps my no-so-finest moment as a man.

He said he’d had much worse: a few tumbles and a few people who kicked and flailed wildly.

And plus, I’m sure he needed the extra boost of adrenaline after flying more than 10 dives throughout the day.

By Allen Arrick Editor in Chief