Ever since I heard this trip offered the opportunity to bungee jump, I have been nervous. That’s just the kind of person I am. My mind works 24/7 on overthinking everything and bungee jumping is not an exception. A few months ago, I just went ahead and decided that it was not for me. I even took the time to write about how I was not going to do it in my biography on this blog. (I should probably change that now) However, I knew that I would end up on that rusty bridge. I knew I would regret it if the chance passed me by.
All week the few brave ones were talking and planning about the jump. I was the person talking about how dangerous and stupid it was. A waste of money….blah blah blah. Well, on Thursday it came time to pay. During class that day, I could not focus. The teacher noticed because I was zoned out of that place. That day was my last opportunity to sign up and I knew without a doubt that I would be on that bridge in the morning. I asked my friends in class if it was too late to pay and before I knew it I was at the desk handing over my debit card.
I could not eat that night and especially the morning of the jump. I asked everyone I saw if they had bungee  jumped before. The waiter at Longhorn’s has not. My teacher from week 1 has not. My friend Luisa’s Tican sister has not. Surprisingly, my mamatica has!! I had been trying to trick myself with the help of the advice of a friend. I just kept telling myself, “I’m not scared. I’m excited!” Every time I wanted to use the word “scared” or “nervous,” I would force myself to say “excited.” We all met at the school at 7:30 that morning. The jumpers were Joe, Ivann, Justin, Jesse, Nathan, Dr.Carassco, Kinnamon, and myself! We hopped on the bus and reached our destination in about 30 minutes.
When we got there, we basically had to sign our lives away. The first line of the release paper said. “I understand that this is a sport of risk.” I immediately started planning my funeral.
On the bridge, we were able to watch one man from Costa Rica jump first. I was surprised that within 3 minutes it was all over. Actually, it was probably even less than that. I had declared that I would go second among our group. I knew that if I didn’t go in the beginning than I would be a nervous wreck by the time it was my turn.
Joe went first. After I saw that he was alive and well, it was my turn. There’s a video on my Facebook page that shows my fearlessness on the platform. Okay, I’m proably stretching that a little. It took the man 3 times to countdown before I jumped. That was definitely the hardest part. Your body is doing everything it can to prevent you from jumping. Every instinct in you is saying “What are you doing?!?!?! Turn around and get off this thing!” I did not want to back out and regret missing this opportunity. After the third countdown…..I jumped.
I immediately forgot was I was doing. I didn’t feel like I was swinging from a rusty bridge with a giant rubber band attached to my feet. I felt incredible! After I jumped, I loved every second of it! It was beautiful and oddly relaxing. I’ve been explaining it to some people as “adrenaline-based relaxation.” It’s hard to describe the actual jump in words. As soon as they pulled me up on the platform, it felt surreal that I had actually jumped. I kept thinking, “Did I really do that? No! I couldn’t have! Oh wait, I have a video! I guess I did!”
All in all, I am so glad I did not miss out on this opportunity! It was defenitely a risk that I’m glad I took! (It’s also very safe. They have spent years working on calculations to make sure you are the safest possible) Also, if you plan on doing this as a student, I recommend that you don’t tell your parents until after. My parents were very happy that I made that decision. 🙂 
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