By Brittany Burke

You haven’t really lived until you’ve jumped out of an airplane hovering 13,500 feet above the ground, free-falling through the air at 120 miles an hour for about 55 seconds.

I thought I had done my share of living, but as I grasped onto my harness and rested my weight on my tandem instructor attached to me, I realized I haven’t even come close. The thought of willingly falling from an airplane may make some people queasy, but the instant the wind starts to whoosh around you and feel the parachute tug you upwards you become at peace.

At one point my instructor said to me, “And to think the only thing holding us up is 12 pounds of nylon,” but I didn’t care. Yes, the initial exhilaration of jumping is addicting, in fact I now plan to go again and eventually get my solo license, but the serenity of just floating through the air is something that should be experienced, not just written about.

My skydiving excursion was a birthday present from my dad when I turned 21 and he got it for me because skydiving happens to be number two on my bucket list. Yes, I am 21 and yes, I have a bucket list. Some people think it’s strange that I have a list of things that I want to accomplish before I die because I am so young, but if I’ve learned anything this past year it is that you can’t wait to start living.

I don’t look at my bucket list as something morbid, I look at it as something to remind me of what I want to do; things I want to experience. The list, which I keep with me at all times, acts almost like a push to not be timid and to go after what I want.

If skydiving wasn’t on that list I probably never would have found myself suiting up on a Sunday morning preparing to jump … I would have been too scared. Now because of it, I’m addicted.

This past summer multiple hockey players were taken from the world before it was there time. Derek Boogard, team Lokomotiv, Rick Rypien among others still in their prime are now gone before they had a chance to really show the world what they can do.

Most recently, while I’m breaking form because he’s not in the sports world, Steve Jobs passed away as did Al Davis, even though he lived a long life. These men aren’t the only ones and with the NFL still wearing pink for breast cancer, the longing to live my life to the fullest is on my mind now more than ever.

I began my bucket list after my dad’s best friend died of cancer at the age 40. He put up a fight against pancreatic cancer and had a list of things he wanted to do, but physically couldn’t. When he died I made my list and I’ve only expanded from there.

The point I am trying to make is that no one, especially students our age, should take life for granted. It’s a message that we always hear; carpe diem and live our lives, but as papers, homework and the concern for paying for school weigh down on everyday life it may be hard to remember all the time.

In the words of Helen Keller, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all,” and never be afraid to take the first step out of the airplane.