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“Ready for take-off” “Copy that” I was sitting at the back seat of the helicopter composing myself. It was my first-time skydiving; I was really nervous. As the helicopter flew higher and higher off the ground, my heart started racing. Although there were a few others with me everyone kept silent and all we could hear were the voices on the transceiver and the whirling of the helicopter blades. We were all dresses in a thick jumper with our helmets and googles on, strapped to the back of our backs were our parachutes. I decided to take a look out of the window to calm my nerves and enjoy the scenery. I saw the blue skies and some clouds passing by, I never noticed how high up we are until I looked down. I thought to myself: Oh my, we are so high up, huh I never noticed how small we were I can barely see anyone walking around the area. Oh! Look at how tiny the trees and houses are! I feel like a giant up here. My train of thought got interrupted when the door of the helicopter opened, a gust of wind instantly hit my face. The captain of the crew broke the silence, “Ready guys? Googles on, helmet check, parachutes intact? Remember, pull on your parachute, when I say pull. On the count of three, one... two…three! LET’S FLY!” All of us jumped one after another following the captain, as I watch the others jump my heart was pounding out of my chest and I was the last to jump off, I took a deep breath and plunged off the helicopter the wind blowing against my face made it fairly hard to breathe, the skin from my face was pulled back as I tried the join the circle my crew had made. My body felt so light as if I was weightless and floating in the air The captain asked if everything was alright, I nodded my head and he took out his selfie stick, I felt the adrenaline rushing through my veins, it was such a thrilling experience. Soon we deployed our parachutes and safely landed on the ground and I felt the weight of my body return, wow I never thought I was that heavy.

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It was one bright sunny morning when I decided to head off for a new adventure. While walking I saw a signboard that stated 'sky diving to discover amazing view' after which I went online to search up and book a slot for the afternoon session. Before heading to that sky diving venue I went to my favorite lunch place at a mall after finishing my lunch I took a cab to the venue. After reaching the venue, I went to get my physical ticket by showing the crew in the office my online booking form after which I got my ticket to continue my sky diving adventure. When queuing for my turn I suddenly felt nervous but at the same time, I'm excited since this is my first try. When it reaches my turn I slowly walk towards the helicopter with a few young people about my age, finally getting in a sitting spot and having a listen regarding the safety instructions by the captain and instructor in order to continue our sky diving adventure. When the helicopter has started to fly I quickly took out my phone and took a few videos and pictures of this memorable moment that I had when it reaches the point of height whereby a few of us that is on the helicopter have to start diving the instructor guided us one by one. I started panicking with fear and nervousness when I knew that it was going to be my turn and I'm also worried about what would the outcome be like. After finishing this sky diving session I have a sign of relief and it makes me realize that life at times will be an adventure whether or not is it good or bad but as long as we try and overcome the issues that we face who knows might be a turnover.

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I am in a helicopter way up in the air right now, facing one of my greatest fears - heights.

My heart is hammering in my chest as a myriad of thoughts run through my mind.
"Why did I sign up for this?" "Oh God, this is so scary!" "Is the earth round?"

A little humour could ease my feelings of stress and anxiety as I occasionally glanced through the tiny windows beside me. I sincerely admired the fluffy clouds and thought that this might be a far more enjoyable pastime than skydiving as I clung to the helicopter's railings for dear life.

To my left sat my best friend Jack, the one who had taken me on this daring activity. He was smiling and his eyes were shining with amusement. "I guess the adrenaline is working on someone," I moaned.

" Okay, friends, it's time to buckle up and get ready to dive for your lives," two of our instructors, Larry and Daryl, exclaimed. As we prepared to put on our safety gear and harnesses, our instructors repeated the safety procedures again as we attached ourselves to each of them.

The door of the helicopter swung open as a huge gust of wind blew in. A rush of adrenaline and fear kicked in as I watched Jack and Daryl get into position to jump out of the helicopter. "I do not think I want to do this Larry," I pleaded as I held onto his arms. " I believe you can do it, just face your fears this time, I guarantee you will find the thrill in it! ", he assured me with a smile.

My hands became clammy and beads of sweat formed on my forehead as I heard Jack yell "Wooohoooo!!!" as he jumped down the helicopter. I did not know how to muster up my courage and immediately said to Daryl, "Let us try, yeah?" My legs were shaking and all I could hear was the loud pounding of my heart in my ears.

On the count of "Three, two, one!" , we threw ourselves overboard.

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Today is the day where I try out skydiving! I’ve been looking forward to it ever since I saw it on TV, where people jump off the helicopter from a very high height and then land with a parachute. I have waited until I was 18 and then my family would bring me to try it out.

We arrived at the facility in the morning so that the weather wouldn’t be too hot to skydive in. It was such a cool place, I was staring in awe as I’ve only ever seen it on TV. After a few people had their turn, it was finally my turn. I was excited but also nervous. My family and I got on the helicopter and while the instructors were reading out the precautions to us, being an overthinker, I was imagining to myself some worst-case scenarios that could happen after we jump, like what if the parachute was malfunctioning and such.

When we were up in the sky, I could see the whole of the country, the outline, and the different small islands. I could also see the clouds and the sea. It was a breath-taking scenery and I wish I could stay up there a little longer. When it came to the part where we had to jump, I was feeling even more scared than excited which was not what I expected myself to be feeling. Fortunately, we would be jumping with one of the instructors and they will be carrying us along with the parachute. I felt relieve knowing that I would be in the hands of a professional with experience.

I was mentally preparing myself for the worst and thought that I would pass out just from the height itself when we jump. There were many negative thoughts going through my mind like what if this happens and I never get to see my family and friends again… But my thoughts were cut off when we plunge into the air.

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The day was clear, blue skies with not a single thunder cloud in sight. Sun glares through my eyes. I covered my eyes by reflex as I walk towards the plane, my vision blurs, full of negative thoughts. As I slide the door of the plane, my vision began to normalize. The plane starts to rattle and shake as the engine starts its ignition. My heart beating as fast as the spinning rotors, the plane suddenly jolts as the plane starts to accelerate, my heart rate starts to skyrocket as I start to regret this decision. The plane starts to lift off, I start to scratch my arms as I look out of the window. The ground soon became more and more distant as the plane flew higher, suddenly the pilot asked if I was ok, I didn’t realize that he was there, soon I snapped back to reality and I replied: “Yeah”, the pilot then gave me a strange look as he continued flying the plane. My tandem partner starts to get ready for the dive. My scratching gets worse as the pilot called, “We are approaching skydive height”. My partner then calls for me as he attaches his harness to my back, as he attaches his harness, reality begins to fade as I start to regret the decision to sky dive, I snap back to reality when he finishes with attaching the harness. Soon we crawled to the dreaded door, suddenly he asked me to open the door, I opened the door and looked down. Fear soon overtook my mind as the ground starts to look more distant that it is. Wind blows through my hair as my face starts to turn pale. The pilot then gave us the green light to jump. Without any hesitation, my tandem partner pushed us off the door as I scream for dear life.

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I take a deep breath. The fresh air from an altitude of 12000 feet rush into my lungs and revitalizes the nervous me. My close friend Tanya dragged me along with them to go sky diving as their friend who was supposed to go in my place caught a cold and could not make it. So here I am, shaking in my boots at an altitude of 12000 feet, Parachute on my back, Tanya on my left and the instructor on my right.

"Approaching 13000 feet." The pilot announces,

"Are you scared?" Tanya whispers to me, "We're about to jump soon."

Of course I was going to be scared, Jumping from 14000 feet, 4.2 kilometers up? That sounds absurd! Who wouldn't be scared unless they've lost their minds?

"Yea, naturally. If I puke on the way down don't get in its trajectory." I jokingly said.

Tanya laughs it off and tells me she'll keep that in mind.

"Approaching 13500 feet, Get ready to jump" The pilot announces again

The instructors open the helicopter door, showing the view from above as the air buffets us inside. 'Beautiful' I thought to myself when I saw the radiant sun hiding behind the clouds. I was captivated by it, Until I looked down that is.

My hands and feet began to turn cold, Not because of the ice cold air pummeling my body, but a sign that I was getting more nervous as time passed. Seeing the fear on my face, Tanya grabbed my frozen hands and reassures me that it will be fine.

We jumped.

Fear, Dread and finally freedom overcame me all in that order. The feeling of air rushing past my body was that of no other. The nervousness disappeared all at once, replaced by the gorgeous view below me, the sky, the towns, the forests. Beautiful all the same. I was on cloud nine, Literally.

Me and the instructor met up with Tanya and her instructor. We joined up as we were about to pull our parachutes. As I pull my parachute my body jolted back as it slowed my descent.

"How was it?" Tanya shouted at me as we were fairly far away.

"It was amazing and I would definitely do it again, Maybe next time." I replied with a smile on my face.

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Height scares me but I don’t want to live a life with regrets. April 23, 2022, it was a sunny Saturday afternoon where my family and I had been planning this for months. Today will be the day I face my fear of skydiving. We went for the safety briefing before boarding the plane, the safety briefing went smoothly, and I was able to understand all the safety features. We boarded the plane and set off to a height of 14,000 feet up. When it’s time to free fall I had a lot of flashes in my mind of what if something goes wrong while free falling such as the parashot won’t open, or we accidentally hit the plane wings and many more thoughts. I wanted to backout so badly at that moment before I could say anything. The instructor jumped off the plane, I felt a lot of fear and closed my eyes but after a while I slowly opened my eyes, I didn’t feel anymore fear. I felt astonish of how beautiful the city is, it opened my eyes of how I didn’t appreciate the things I didn’t notice before and weirdly I felt happy I went for it even if I wanted to backout at the last second. I realize that no matter what situation I’m in I shouldn’t give up that easily as we won’t know what will happen if we don’t try. We won’t know how we would feel, how we would do and how we would end up. I learnt after the trip that after I always been afraid of height since young, but I always wanted to overcome that fear I had. I don’t want to live a life of “what if I tried” and regret but to live a life of “I had tried”.

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Cage diving. I think it’s always been an unfamiliar concept to me as someone who lived in a city her entire life. Maybe it does exist in Singapore, but in indoor aquariums instead of the open seas. I glanced at my to-do list before I die, and swimming with great white sharks was amongst my top ten. I mean, if I was in the face of death, doing a risky and thrilling activity wouldn’t seem like a big deal to me. That’s what I thought.

And so, I did the necessary research on where are the best places to cage dive with a high chance of stumbling onto a great white. I guess my expectations were too unrealistic, it didn't seem possible to find a great white if I was going to keep my travelling bubble to Asian continents only.

I settled on an island in Malaysia, somewhere in Sabah. It is said to be a popular site to encounter one of the ocean’s more enigmatic predators, scalloped hammerhead sharks. You could possibly meet other inhabitants like the manta or devil rays and plenty of schooling fishes.

It wasn’t cage diving though. The scuba diving coach told me about how cage diving may be a safer way to observe sharks, but you’d feel restricted in a space and it’s also possible that sharks may think you’re a bait waiting to be eaten, yikes!

Anyways, I followed through my coach’s instructions, emergency measures and warmups. We started near the shore, and gradually went in deeper. After going through tons of coral reefs and fishes wandering around remotely, I stumbled across the much anticipated hammerhead shark.

I was at a loss of words, I watched it in a distance as it propelled itself through the water using its tail. I did not panic though, but I sure froze for a good minute. I was glad it wasn’t the original plan of meeting a great white through cage diving, because I would’ve called quits immediately. Watching these predators from a distance was somehow fulfilling and risky enough.

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As a sports lover, I enjoy many sports like many people do too. Every sport has its own uniqueness. Sports are emotional, and they can incite great passion.

School term is finally over and everyone is busy making plans on where to go, relax, and enjoy for the next 1 month. The monthly school magazine given to all students this time round was rather unusual. Previously, it was all about health, sciences, and how to do well for exams. With a skydiving picture on the front cover, it was titled “SPORTS”. With no hesitation, I looked over to my best friend, Kai. As I anticipated, our eyes met and we had the same idea. SKYDIVING!!

Fast forward to the present day, me and Kai are at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to experience skydiving for the first time. We have chosen to go with Tandem Skydiving where we will be strapped to a certified instructor. It was rather expensive but on the other hand, we needed no training and we had more free fall time. We were so excited that when night fell, we could not sleep. We both then shared our experiences and burst out laughing at our dumb decisions in the past.

The following day came and with clear skies, we were ready for take off. Our Tandem instructors helped us put on the necessary safety equipment and ensure we are good to go. One by one, we boarded the plane. As the plane took off, my anxiety started to slowly build up. The plane went up to 13,000 feet in a matter of minutes and the green light was shown. The plane door slid open and it was time…

“See you on the ground, CRACKHEAD!!!” Kai exclaimed as his instructor made the jump. “This guy..” I shook my head and smiled. My instructor asked me if I was ready but before I could answer, I felt wind rushing onto my face as my instructor made the jump. The adrenaline rush was crazy and everything looked so small. About 30 seconds in, the parachute opened and we slowed down. It was tense at first but I slowly came to enjoy the breathtaking sceneries. Here, I can say that I am really on top of the world… This sense of relaxation and freedom is a feeling we will never get on the ground.

Next up, SWITZERLAND!!!

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I looked down at the ground below me, my legs were trembling really bad. Sometimes I question the decisions I make. “ Why are you so nervous?” my friend sitting beside me asked. “ Maybe because I am at least four kilometers up in the sky and am about to jump?” I replied, annoyed. My mind is imagining all the things that could happen during the jump. What if Something went wrong with my parachute, what if the wind is too strong, what if it starts raining? All these scenarios are playing through my head as we continue flying upwards. I did not think about this decision to go sky diving because my friend wanted to go through.

As I sat in the plane with my legs trembling non-stop, suddenly one of the staff asked, “ are you ready to jump?” I immediately looked up at my instructor . “ Are we already there?” the staff nodded my head and started to get the equipment ready for the jump. I started to feel my legs and hands shaking more. My friend saw and held on to my hand and tried to comfort me but my mind was just filled with many thoughts. The instructor pushed the door open and a gush of wind came blowing at us. My friend held my hand and brought me to the door. I was closing my eyes the entire time, afraid to open my eyes. When I mustered enough courage to look I immediately closed my eyes back and went back to my seat. My friend chuckled. “ Come on, it will be fun, trust me.it is a once in a lifetime experience. And you can boast about it to your mom when you are done” she said. I immediately looked at my friend and recalled what my mom said about the trip. She said that I was not able to and won't even be able to get on the plane without crying. I then stood up and remembered why I wanted to do this in the first place, to prove to my mom that I can do anything. I nodded to my instructor and she got me ready to jump. When she was done, I walked to the door where my friend was standing. My heart was pounding very fast. My legs were slightly shaking.

“ ready?” “ three, two, one, JUMP!” We jumped down the plane, into the beautiful scenery around us.

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I peered out the small window in the helicopter and admired the vast land beneath me. I breathed in deeply, attempting to hide my nervousness as if I did not feel my heart beating through my chest at that moment. As I felt a sudden gush of wind, I knew this was it. I was finally going to tick this one off my bucket list – skydiving.

“You ready?” I looked over my shoulder and nodded to my dashing Australian instructor who checked for assurance. The helicopter’s door had already been slid open and I was the first one to go. The cooling wind graced my body as I braced myself for the leap. My heart was pounding like a drum, even more furious than before. I felt as though I could combust at any minute. It wasn’t the fear of height, more so the fear of not surviving. However, this was my ‘it’ moment. To celebrate my twenty-one years of living. I gave my instructor a second nod and off we went, we soared like birds in the sky.

I felt my face being pulled back, almost like I was gum, and it was being stretched everywhere. Every inch of my body embraced the icy temperature in the clouds. It felt as though part of my nervous system had shut down. My body gave in to gravity as I closed my eyes and let the wind carry me. It was as though I was floating to heaven, yet I was falling to Earth. After what felt like an eternity, my instructor finally pulled the lever, releasing the parachute.

My body jerked momentarily by the sudden pull. I opened my eyes and my mouth hung open to the scenery in front of me. It was still blurry greens, blues and mix of colours on the land but it looked straight out of a movie or painting. Floating in air made me feel more powerful than before. I was freefalling earlier with no control but now, everything was much slower, and I took in every second of that sensation.

As we got closer to the ground, I could see the details clearer. Greenery across the country, little lakes and houses, even tiny people. We approached a clear plot of land and my instructor reminded me of the technique we learned. I braced my legs for impact, and I felt my bottom sliding gently on the grass before it came to a halt. I was detached from the carabiner and pulled up by my instructor. He gestured for a high-five and smiled from ear to ear. “You did it man, your first jump! How does it feel?” I paused hearing his words. I glanced around me and saw other divers coming down too. I turned back to look at the sky, filled with fluffy cotton candy clouds and an orange beam subtlety shining through the horizon. I heaved a sigh of relief and let out a chuckle. “Feels amazing. Thank you.”.

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Mesmerizing in the turbo sound of a Cessna 172, I could feel my legs are no longer on the ground and I couldn’t help but hold my parachute bag hard in my arms. This was the very first time in my life to try out the incredible skydiving. Being a military lover, I had dreamed about being a paratrooper landing in the night of Normandy, matching the codes ‘Flash and thunder’ at the bush across the roads. However, this was so different from what I expected seeing down the windows as everything is like ants on the green continent. I imagined myself being like a kite without a string and just falling flat on the ground. What if my parachute doesn’t work? What if I can not hold myself in half air? All these turned into an indescribable fear as we gained higher and higher altitude.

Soon enough, the plane flatted its nose which meant we had reached the designated altitude for the jump! Looking down on my pants, gladly they were still dry but my legs could not help but fight. I thought this was due to the combination of excitement and fear and put up a kind of fine smile. Suddenly, the cabinet door was opened by the coach and the indicator turned bright green. Everyone started following the last instructions before the dive while I stared at the shining green dot on my own. Gladly, my pal tagged my shoulder to bring me back to reality. Hiding at the end of the line, I felt a bit more relaxed since I had nobody watching my back as I could watch the rest jump out first.

‘Go!’ The coach shouted and the first few pairs disappeared under my sight. They formed a circle that reminds me of the song ‘Fuyu no hana’ which means flowers in the winter. Blooming and falling at the same time. What dragged me back to reality was the coach's strong arm. I knew it was my turn finally. I checked everything on me and closed my eyes smoothly. Stepping into the void.

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I remember it like it was almost yesterday, the thrill that rushed through my body as it sank into the clear blue water. The culmination of my holiday trip to Australia with my family had lead me to Neptune Islands. A spectacular group of islands located down in the Southern areas. Famous for its beautiful waters and great white sharks.

It was a sunny day, clouds drifting along the clear blue sky as winds blew across my face. I was filled with excitement and anxiety as I stepped onto the boat. The trip lasted roughly 3 hours. I stretched my leg about off the boat as I drank in the scenery around me. As we had left in the midst of the early morning, I could see the sun slowly peaking over the clouds in the horizon, spilling a beautiful shade of pink, blue and purple.

Our diving instructor was all sunshine and daisies, getting everyone on the boat to look forward to what's to come. Naturally, we were all swept up in the moment and joined the cheers. The heat of the morning slowly set in as we reached the island.

"Alright everybody, settle in and get your masks ready! It's time to see some fishes!" the young yet phlegmatic diving instructor yelled from the deck. I looked to my sister who seemed just as skittish as I was and flashed her an okay sign as I put on the diving gear. I strapped the mask onto my face and awaited my call. A few moments passed when the instructor called to me and my sister. We stood up swiftly and scurried to the diving cage. As we entered, we were handed an oxygen tank connected to two snorkels.

The energetic instructor gave us simple instructions as well as fair warnings before flashing a smile and running off. I inserted the snorkel into my mouth and awaited the descent into the clear waters. My sister clutched my hand in slight anxiety. At that moment, I could feel the cage slowly descending. The water crept up to my neck and I closed my eyes as I was steadily engulfed into the deep sea. After a moment, I opened my eyes and greeted the Great White before me.

I swallowed.

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What a memorable time that I have never experience before. Finally, it was December vacation, which meant it was time for an overseas trip!

My friends and I decided to travel to New Zealand because we had discussed going on an adventure beforehand.
They had decided to go skydiving, but I was still hesitant because I have phobia of height. After some persuasion from my friends, I decided to give it a shot.
When we reached our destination, we went up to the helioscope. As the helioscope rose higher and higher, my heart began to beat as fast as lightning, and both of my hands and legs trembled.

I squeeze my friend's hands as tightly as I can. "Relax, Relax," they say. It should be fine because you had beginner's guides with you.
The guide wanted me to go first because I was the one who was terrified after being confronted numerous times. After going over all of the safety guidelines and double-checking.
Half of my face was turned to look down at the ground.

I yelled "OH MY! OMG! SO HIGH!" Immediately, the guide yelled
" 3.. 2.. 1.. JUMP!"

I started to yell for a split second, but the wind blew my face out of shape. The guide instructed me to hunker down and stretch both of my hands out, not to think about my fear.
At the moment, I'm enjoying the wind and looking up at all the trees in the sky. "The world is so big and beautiful! Yeay!" I exclaimed.

Halfway through, the guide released the parashot, the balloon was so huge and "WOOHOO it was so cool !" I shouted. When I got to the end, I was so grateful to the guide because she had given me so much comfort.
After I had contacted all of my friends, we went to take some memorable photos. I told them about my experience, and my friends praised me on my bravery.

"Guys, I am so grateful that I tried skydiving once in my life and have never regretted it. I'd like to return because it helps me relieve a lot of stress "I responded by hugging my friends.

Every new experience you never try, you will come to regret it because people only live once.

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“Okay calm down Justin, just breathe in and out and you will be fine.” I thought to myself as I was on the boat. Beside it was sharks surrounding us. It was the holiday break and my family decided to head to Africa for vacation. I was thrilled with excitement at first as it was my first time heading to a country far away from home.

The cage in front of me could fit 5 people. We had to take turns to explore this unique and probably once in a lifetime, for me, adventure of cage diving. The chills and nervousness of my body made me numb. Soon it was my turn.

I wore the safety gears and equipped myself with the oxygen tank provided. I was trying to remember what the professionals have briefed me about upon entering the cage. I couldn’t. Luckily, the professional divers gave another round of direct instructions. This time I remembered and tried my best to follow, while my body was shivering in fear. Shark fins were seen everywhere around the boat. One tried to make stunts and create huge waves, causing the boat to rock vigorously. Why do they have to do these when I am in the cage? I cried to myself.

It was time for me to explore underwater. Everyone in the cage was fully equipped and prepared. I was prepared with equipment and gears, but not mentally in my mind. As the cage lowered, I closed my eyes thinking I would be not as scared. I could feel the water touching my feet, then to the lower body, slowly to my chin. I was fully submerged into the ocean. I forced my eyes open, and my nervousness slowly faded. I became excited and appalled instead. The sharks did not look as near as I had expected. And there were many more sharks in the ocean than what I thought onboard the boat. Suddenly, there was a loud thud at the cage. I screamed through my mouthpiece of the oxygen tank. One of the sharks used its tail to hit the cage. I had a scare.

Such a short moment filled with so many imaginations and experiences. Being able to step over my comfort zone was something that led to an adventure fulfilled with activities that I thought I would not explore.

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Knees weak, arms heavy, sweat trickling down my cheek. How did I actually get myself to do this? Here I stood, 14,000 ft in air on a moving aircraft, about to jump. Why only now do I realise that I have taken this too far? I have always had a fear of heights, acrophobia, it wasn't bad to the point that just being high up would cause me to quiver, but it was bad enough to have deterred me from every roller coaster in my life. So how did I now find myself in this position? Well, all it took was a "I dare you". There I was with my friend, who was eyeing my sister. "Come on man just help me out, just introducing couldn't hurt that much, I mean, what are friends for right?" A simple no could've sufficed but of course I just had to say, "Dude I would rather jump off a moving plane then ever let you date my sister."

"Alright, bet, if you do it, I'll never bring this up again".

One thing led to another and here we were, 14 000 ft apart. "Screw it, I'm ready, give me the count."

"3, 2, GO" As he shoved me I felt as if my soul had been shot out of my body, just like that one scene in Spiderman: No Way Home.
I've heard about that trick before but I hadn't thought that it was actually practiced. As I began plummeting through the air, another man strapped to his back, I took a deep breath in, ready to charge my scream. I opened my mouth and prayed silently for my instructors ears, "WOOOOOOO" I was..... cheering? I felt free, for the first time in a long I felt as if the shackles of life had been undone. It was euphoria, lucidity, and an odd sense of serenity all jumbled together. And then I opened my eyes, the air in my lungs had been grasped out with a loud gasp, as if I had been sucker-punched in the gut, my eyes widened as my brain slowly felt numb. The image of the ground rapidly approaching my face had knocked me out before I ever touched the ground. Embarrassing.

"Dude that was hilarious! If only you could've seen yourself, oh wait, you can!" My friend mocked, holding the GoPro as I was leaned over a trash bin, puking up last night's dinner. I thought that this would've been a good opportunity to overcome my fear of heights and to get my friend to stop pestering me about my sister. But now as we leave to go home, sitting in the back seat, I can only wallow in regret, as my friend and my sister sit next to me, giggling at each other's jokes the whole trip home. Mission failed.

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And it was at this moment where I knew, this experience was nothing less than LIFE CHANGING. My heart beats rapidly where I stand - at the edge of the helicopter freaking out. Only then, I remembered what a teacher once said to me in drama class- to take a few deep breaths and suddenly fear just turns into excitement. The thought of this immediately calmed me a little. I take one last look back into the helicopter cabin, towards the pilot, my instructor, and lastly at my own two feet. The doors of the helicopter was open at this point, with what’s below seemingly a drop of doom. My instructor looks at my so-called well hidden look of peace and fear. The instructor smiled warmly and chuckled a little, saying,” it’s going to be okay, don’t worry. You ready?” after I gave a small nod of approval the instructor strapped himself as support behind me and in a quick count to 3 we take the leap of faith : after that I saw everything and nothing at once. The wind quickly gushed past my face and it was chilly outside in the bright American sky. However, the sky was bright- and all I could see with the glasses was just white. Promptly after, the cold wind and the surreal movement of flying made my senses truly come alive. The intense winds rendered me feeling weightless as I saw a huge part of Hawaii greeting me. After, I feel a tug from the instructor and just a moment later the intensity of the wind mellows down as the parachute is brought out. I take a slow gasp as I take in the exquisite view of beautiful Honohulu. At this point in time I was just in awe, and so many things were in my head- how insignificant in size we are in the scale of the world, how beautiful the place is, how I wish more friends and family would be able to take this magnificent scenery in, and how ultimately in about 10 to 15 more seconds all of this would just be over. With no smartphone in hand, all I have to take home to Singapore with me would just be the memory etched in my head.

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My heart is trembling through my chest. The day that I have been waiting for is finally here. I am about to overcome my greatest fear, the heights. Skydiving was something I would have never imagined myself to do ever. Heights has always been my biggest fear since I was little. While other kids enjoy riding rollercoasters, I was terrified of it. I enjoyed riding the merry-go-round instead. But my recent heartbreak has made me want to change myself. I want to be more adventurous and more brave. I want to overcome my fear and therefore I decided to do skydiving.

Throughout the whole car ride to the location, I was very quiet. My hand won’t stop shaking. The palm of my hands was getting sweaty. I was starting to have cold sweats and dead thoughts were starting to appear in my mind. I was starting to list down all the misfortune that could potentially happen in my head. But before I could think of an excuse to escape, I have reach the destination, the Skydive Centre.

My heart was pounding really fast. Sweats were starting to drip down my back and forehead as I was signing all the necessary documents before taking off. I was then introduced to our instructor and we were taught how to put on the harnesses and helmets. We were then being brief on some instructions and protocols of when we on the plane. This is when my heart started to beat very fast. It was pounding very fast and I thought it would come out of my chest anytime soon. I felt the adrenaline rush.

Before I knew it, I was 10 000 feet up above the ground. I was already starting to say my prayers out loud in my head. Wishing and praying that I won’t die. I was also starting to think of all the things I have yet to achieve in life. As my mind was wandering around in my head, the instructor started to ask me if I was ready to jump. The next thing I knew, I was screaming my lungs out as we went about 200 km per hour up in the sky. Everything below me that used to be so big looked so small up here. The view was incredible. We were floating up in the sky. The clouds look like cotton candy even from up here.

When we reach the ground, I couldn’t feel my legs. They felt like jelly. At that moment, I was shocked and disbelieved that I had just overcome my fear. The screaming up in the air paid off because I now manage to let go of all my sadness and angriness from the breakup behind me. I would never have imagined myself to be doing skydiving 2 months ago. That is crazy.

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My friend and I decided to go on vacation together. To get away from the hustle and bustle of the world, we decided to use this month to explore places we've never been and try new things.

Our vacation destination is a small island. We heard that on this island we can see sharks up close, of course with security facilities that will protect us. To leave an unforgettable impression of this island, we decided to go to that place. This place turned out to be on the edge of a cliff. We can see sharks swimming from the top of the cliff. At first, we had doubts but because we had intended from the start, we finally decided to give it a try. We put on our diving gear and were put in a metal cage that I don't know can withstand a bite from a shark. After the officers checked our diving equipment and the iron cage that was confining us, the iron cage began to be inserted into the water with the sharks swimming freely.

My heart was beating fast, my throat was dry, and I felt sweat dripping from my palms even though I knew I was in the water. I saw the shark clearly, it looked big and strong with its canine teeth clearly visible. I started to feel my body shaking a little, hoping that we would be brought back to the surface as soon as possible.

Without us knowing it, there is a shark swimming toward us. I started to panic, hoping that the iron cage that was confining us would protect us. The shark was getting closer. My body trembled with the fear that I couldn't seem to hold back any longer. When the shark was only a few meters from me, I closed my eyes tightly, unable to stand what I saw before my eyes. And the shark continued to swim beside the iron cage that was confining me. There is a feeling of relief but there is still a feeling of fear. While I was in shock, digesting what had happened, the iron cage started moving up to the surface. As the iron cage moved up, I looked down and saw a shark swimming. It will be an experience I will never forget in my life.

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As I strapped myself into the skydiving gear and the two parachutes, my heart was pounding. I was sweating a lot as I stepped onto the plane with shaky steps, along with a few other people. I put on my headset and over the radio, I heard the safety instructor tell us how to buckle ourselves into the seats of the plane. After about 7 minutes, the plane's rotors were spinning at max speed and I heard the pilot say "Charlie Mike, Clear for takeoff." Before I knew it, we were 10,000 feet up in the sky.

"You guys are good to go, jump anytime you like" was all I heard over the radio. Between me getting into the plane and reaching jumping altitude was a blur, I don't remember seeing or hearing anything, the only thing I knew was the anxiety that I was filled with. "....Hey, hey!" I jumped and looked at the safety instructor. "Are you okay?" I nodded slowly. "Alright, well what are you waiting for? Let's go, buddy!" I unbuckled the seatbelt and stepped towards the edge of the helicopter's cabin. I looked over the edge and time froze. Although I was only 10,000 feet above the ground, it felt like I was on top of Mount Everest, looking down at the ground. I started to panic and began backing up. "Hey, what are you doing?" I looked back at him in fear and he said "Are you okay? Can you jump?" I wanted to say something but the words got stuck in my throat. Just then, the words of my instructor popped into my head: "Don't panic, all you gotta do is jump and pull the parachute release cord, simple." I then slowly stepped towards the edge and took a deep breath.

At this point, I was no longer scared but filled with something completely different. Adrenaline. A lot of it. As I fell towards the ground, the feeling was incredible, it was like I was floating! I fumbled and found the parachute cord and pulled on it with all my strength.

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"This is a terrible idea." I chuckle, hiding my nervousness.

"Well, we're already in the air so no backing out now!" My instructor informs me, semi-jokingly.

As we inch ever onwards toward the inevitable decent, my stomach starts doing somersaults, possibly to spite my foolhardy decision making. After all, if all goes to plan, we'll be doing more than just a few by the days end.

The wind rushing into the cabin keeps me on my toes, my clammy palms holding the hand rails threaten to slip from sweat buildup.

"Alright, we're nearing the drop zone, get ready."

"Aye, have I ever told you I have a fear of heights?"

"Nope, and no sense dwelling on that now, on my mark, jump!"

The adrenalin spikes, I feel my entire body light up with alertness, shaking off the ennui, there can be no deliberation after all.

"JUMP!"

With a final yelp, we leave the cabin and begin our rapid decent, the tiny houses and trees in the distance threatening to splatter me makes me visibly shake, both from the cold and fear.

It feels like we decent far longer than expected, and I'm afraid that we've missed our parachuting range, I look back up at my instructor and he shoots me a knowing grin.

"Yep, it's about time we open the chute, just give it a moment."

For a split second as he pulls the tab, I'm sure it's failed and we'll die a terrible and horrific death as a red smear on tarmac or impaled on a tree somewhere, but luckily, the chute opens with a *zzzpt* and we manage to slow down our decent.

We land without issue, not before I wince and get a face full of tree beforehand. Finally, as I hit solid ground, my body crashes and it feels like lead weights are attached to my feet and I struggle to get back up off the ground.

"Wow, that was bloody incredible! I feel like a cripple now that I'm walking on earth again, I much prefer flying." I mournfully wisp.

He chuckles, before proposing:
"Well we could go again, you did pay for a 4 hour package!"

"Oh, would I!"

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“Whoever legalised skydiving should be thrown in jail,” I muttered under my breath as the deafening sounds of the plane engine filled my ears. After losing a very miserable volleyball game last Friday, my team and I were obliged to stick to the deal of having the losing team go for a skydiving experience.

Out of curiosity and fear, I made the horrible decision to lean out the edge of the cabin to see what I signed up for. Almost instantly, my acrophobia screamed at me to get back in the cabin, yet I was frozen in place, staring at the tiny skyscrapers and roads that seemed to tower over me when I was safe on the ground.

I turned to my skydiving instructor to find her studying my face. I must’ve looked really nervous (although I tried to hide the fear), because she expressed her concern for me by asking if I was okay. I tried to flash her an assuring smile to ease her worries, so I decided to shout over the roaring wind and engine of the plane: “Did I ever tell you I obtained a diploma for being a coward back in school?”

It seemed to work as she laughed at the joke (not that I could hear it) before punching my arm. “We’re jumping off in ten seconds, so don’t chicken out now!” Ten? The unsettling dread I felt began to chip away at my smile as I paled.

Apparently I panicked so hard I lost track of what number I counted till, because while I was still at “four”, my instructor had already jumped off the plane with my arms still linked with hers. The scream I let out was so loud my other friends in the plane said they could hear me.

After prying open my squeezed shut eyes, I steadied my breathing and took a good look around me and I was mesmerised by the view of the endless blue sky and the clouds that floated dreamily overhead, while down below the different colours of the tiny cars on the road and buildings melted my anxiety away.

Soon after, the parachute was released and my instructor and I descended safely onto the ground. I struggled to find my footing for a moment, the adrenaline still rushing through my body and the grin on my face still wide. Maybe skydiving wasn’t so bad after all.

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“3, 2, 1. please remove your blindfolds.” As I removed my blindfold, my eyes adjusted to the surroundings. There I was, standing on board a plane with an open door, cold air rushing in, looking at the view of Canada from about 14,000 feet away from the ground. I did not have a good feeling of what was going to happen next. “Participants, here is your final challenge. Sky diving. Anyone who overcomes their fear of heights with this challenge will be rewarded with the final prize! Who would like to go first?” The camp commander excitedly asked. ‘Just why did I even have the thought of challenging my fear of heights and coming to this programme...should I just jump? What’s the worst that could happen? Death? Ha.” I thought to myself nervously. I felt like I could have fainted before I even got to the edge of the plane. “I will go first!” One of the female participants volunteered daringly. I watched in astonishment as she went for the jump with one of the sky diving instructors with almost no hesitance. She was at the edge of the plane door for one second, and then she was gone in the blink of an eye. “I.. WILL GO NEXT!” a voice burst out suddenly. I was the one who shouted. I gathered whatever courage I had inside of me and decided that it was better for me to get over it. There were two main reasons: the final prize, to challenge my limits. “Sky diving is an activity even the people without fear of heights would fear, if I managed to jump out the plane and arrive on land alive, that would be something I can brag about my entire life.” That was what I was telling myself as I moved towards the door along with my instructor and saw the ground thousands of feet below me. In the next second, I was plummeting towards the ground. Initially, my eyes were closed as I was afraid to see what was ahead of me. However, as I slowly opened my eyes, I was taken aback by the beautiful scenery that was before my eyes, completely living in the moment. The sensations that I felt were indescribable, I felt like I could overcome anything that I was going to face in the future. I felt like someone new.

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Fearful, afraid, anxious. Those 3 feelings were just overwhelming me continuously as I looked down from the helicopter 14,000 feet in the air. Why did I decide to do this? What if I died? What if something went wrong? What if the parachute failed? All these ‘what if’ thoughts were just flooded and racing in my mind that I could not calm myself down.  At this point, the doors were wide opened, and the wind was too strong that it nearly blew my small body out of the helicopter. “Hold on tight,” said the instructor. However, the helicopter blades were whirling too loud that we could not hear anyone’s voices. I could only look at the instructor’s mouths moving to guess what he was saying. Soon later, we tightened our heavy suits, and got our equipment ready. I was strapped to one instructor as I prepared myself to ‘take off’.

Not long after, it was my turn to jump down. As I stood in the helicopter before the skies, my mind instantly went blank. I could not think at all. My legs felt wobbly, as if they were going to crumble down anytime.  “3…2…1… jump!” the instructor immediately plunged both of us down from the helicopter. I did not mentally prepare myself to die at this very young age. All I could do was close my eyes as we launched from the helicopter.

As we were diving in the midst of the blue skies filled with fluffy clouds, I suddenly felt a sense of excitement that I was ‘floating’ in the skies for the first time in my life. Adrenaline rushed through my body continuously. My fear vanished completely as I lifted my hands forward and enjoyed the wind breezing past my face. I was screaming at the top of my lungs with excitement, but I could not hear my voice at all. “Is this real? Is this a dream? Am I really skydiving? Am I really floating in the air?” I questioned myself. I slapped my face to make sure I was not dreaming at all, and yes, it was indeed real.

This experience was definitely a tick off my bucket list, and was surely a memorable one for me.

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This is not going to end well. I thought to myself.
I stupidly agreed to go skydiving with my friends for his birthday even though I was a scaredy cat afraid of heights. Now, it was too late to turn back.
We're speeding through the runway, and the engines are kicking hard. When I glanced down, I saw the gorgeous scenery and briefly forgot what I was about to do. At 3000m above the ground, 1 minor accident and I could be plunging to my death. I closed my eyes and wondered if I should have agreed to this skydiving session. It was the latter. My heart begins to race, my body begins to shake, my breath becomes shallow, and I notice my knees twitching and becoming weak.

"On the count of 3, we jump!" exclaimed Tom, who was trying to be heard over the blaring noise of the chopper.

Before I knew it, I was falling at a speed greater than the limit on the highway. As we plunged to the ground at 200 km/h, the wind rushed across my face! My heart began to race, my body began to shake, my breath became shallow, my knees twitched and was becoming weak.

While plunging through the sky at 170km/h , I was trying to figure out why anyone would find this pleasurable. But soon after awhile I realized it. My breath was practically stolen away as everything below me appeared to be so tiny. After about what seemed to be the longest 60 seconds of my life, the parachute opened and everything slowed down.

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I still remembered the day when I went cage diving....

It was during June holidays, I flew with my friends to Neptune Island in Australia to have a short holiday break from poly.My friends were suggesting doing cage diving before we flew back to Singapore to resume our poly studies. I was escalated but at the same time nervous about this activity as I had many doubts in my mind... "What if the cage broke and the sharks attacked me?What if my oxygen ran out of air and there was no way I could cue my handlers that I was having a lack of air.What if the line got stuck and I am trapped there?" were all the doubts and questions I had as me and my friends were on the way to the venue. Once we reached the venue, the instructors/handlers briefed us on a couple of rules and protocols that we have to follow In order to be able to fully enjoy and experience the event. We boarded the ship and travelled further into the sea where the activity would take place. Whilst waiting for my turn I was getting more and more paranoid and worried and was asking my friends if I could back out but they were encouraging me to go ahead with the activity as it was a once in a lifetime experience!/ When it was my turn, I changed into the scuba suit that was provided by the organisers, and headed into the cage. After I got lowered, I saw many beautiful fishes swimming past me and corals beautifully swaying with the currents of the sea. Boy, was I glad I didn't back out of the activity! After about 5 minutes, I made contact with the first great white shark face to face, and words could not describe how panic I was feeling when the shark came close to my cage and stared at me. However, it was also a magnificent sight to behold! . After admiring the sea and corals and fishes, I was glad that I did not back out of the activity and also that I got to experienced it first hand!

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I could still vividly recall the day I sky-dived off an aircraft 14,000 feet above the ground like it was yesterday. Jumping off a plane on a regular Saturday morning was not something I would usually be up to. However, after having my friends convince me that it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, I decided to spice up my life with a little bit of adventure.

'No turning back now, we're about to plunge off!' joked my instructor, Elvis, stating the obvious. As we inched closer and closer to the entrance, my hands were clammy, and my legs were shaking uncontrollably.

I could feel the chilly air surge in and a rush of adrenaline down my spine as I stared out over the scenic view of Australia. Everyone on board was counting down the minutes before I could leap, but all I could hear was the ringing in my ears as I prepared to dive off a plane 14,000 feet up in the air. Elvis was holding me tightly for my first skydive while the cameraman was already outside the plane waiting for me to jump.

“3….2….1…LET'S GOO….” Elvis excitedly scream beside me as we jumped off together.

Those were the scariest yet most enjoyable seconds of my life. As we were falling faster and faster, I could feel my heart pounding off my chest and hear a gust of wind blowing into my face. After a while, we slowed down, and my parachute opened fast. I could feel my body jump at the sound of the parachute assembling above me.

“You okay there?” Elvis checked on me while I was silently catching a glimpse of the view in our parachute.

A few minutes later, Elvis flew the parachute to the ‘landing area’ and we smoothly landed on the ground. My legs were too unsteady to walk, so I sat on the ground with a wide smile on my face for a few minutes. I gave Elvis and the cameraman a hug while thanking them for sharing this special moment with me. The other instructors slowly escorted me to the waiting area where I could watch my friends floating up in the air.

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It took us 2 hours to travel from the airport to the hotel and its hell of exhausting. I look at the sky through my sunglasses, “Come on, let us go have lunch first then head to the beach for sunset. I’m kind of tired for today.” She grabs my hand and smile at me with a devilish look on her face. “Don’t be such a dead one. Let’s go sky diving!” Before I even say anything, she started dragging me to the car. This girl is a psychopath for anything risky, she does not feel anything, and she love jumping off from anywhere. What a creep right. The next moment, I found myself on the plane with her. I am going to die. I am going to die. I was tied with another experience diver, one push and I started falling, the air starts to go against my body rushing through my fingers and hair. My ear sounds like it was about to explode, I closed my eyes didn’t dare to see the world around me. I was on the verge of passing out when I felt someone holding my hand and said, “Its fine, is beautiful and different from what you see from below. Look…those green lands, blue puddles of lake and tiny people walking around.” Says the experience diver. Bright light flashes across my face, blue sky and warm air covers my face. It is true, it feels like you are flying through the sky. This doesn’t seem as bad as I thought, it is scary but yet so satisfying at the same time. I smiled and laughed about how ridiculous I was, there was nothing to fear. I look at Joline and she was having a blast of her life as usual. I enjoyed it while it last. Once we landed, the diver untied me, my friend was at the other end of the field. I turned around and wanted to thank him as he removes his helmet. That is when I realize… “It’s been long, Val.”

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‘Are u ready?’ the skydiving instructor shouted. My ears were filled with the whipping sound of the helicopter motor blades. Despite that, I could still hear my heart pounding in my ears. From the ground, skydiving looked so easy. I thought that I would not hesitate to jump out of the helicopter. However, now that I was 14000 feet off the ground, jumping out was challenging. Even though my conscience told me I was not going to die, it really felt like it.

‘Give me a minute,'' I stuttered. I clasped my shaking hands together. I whispered a short prayer and took a deep breath, preparing myself to jump. Skydiving had been an activity on my bucket list, and I was not going to back out now. I had spent a lot of money to come to the United States and have a first hand experience of skydiving. I must not let it all go to waste. I mustered up all my courage, looked at the diving instructor, and signaled that I was ready. ‘Okay 1, 2, 3!’ the diving instructor said and we jumped out of the helicopter.

Now I was in the air, right next to the clouds. I felt so light. ‘I can fly!’ I thought to myself. The sound of the wind whooshed in my ears. It was deafening, I could not even hear my own voice. My hands grew numb from the freezing cold and I could feel my toes tingle in my shoes. I spread my hands and feet wide open, enjoying the refreshing cool wind on my face. I looked down, and my heart raced. I felt a bit giddy, from up here the world seemed so small. Despite the slight nervousness, I felt euphoric. I had finally had the courage to do an extreme sport. I felt accomplished and proud of myself.

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“Why would you do this to me? You know I hate heights!”

My palms were sweating. My heart was beating loudly but somehow still drowned out by the raucous whirling of the helicopter blades. At least they helped me realise my ears were blocked by the air pressure, unlike Silly Tilly who hadn’t stopped smiling from the moment I agreed to this. In celebration of Tilly getting her skydiving coaching license, I, the one friend with acrophobia, was chosen as the sacrificial lamb to go tandem skydiving with her. I’d tried every excuse in the book to get out of this, but Tilly refuted every single one of them with practised ease.

I regretted instantly sneaking a peak out the window. My head started swirling. My stomach lurched every time the chopper shook, which unfortunately happened frequently. Before I knew it, the dreaded moment had arrived. Tilly had tapped on my shoulder to let me know that we had reached diving altitude. Instinctively, I shook my head vehemently to fully express my resolute reluctance to jump. Tilly must have expected this as she began to calmly gesture at me with her hands to take deep slow breaths to calm down. Oddly enough, it worked. I could feel my palpitating heart begin to return to normal, as I followed her instructions.

We were the first to go. The other passengers and instructors on the chopper pumped their fists in encouragement as they looked at each other with the same mixture of nervousness and excitement. Heartened by their encouragement, I nodded to Tilly that I was ready. Tilly grinned back in response as she tilted my head to face the front and leaned us out of the helicopter door.

The feeling in the moments of freefall was inexplicable. All I could remember was feeling the rush of adrenaline that Tilly had insisted I’d love, and hearing the overwhelming gush of wind as we lost all sense or reason. It was only when Tilly gestured a reminder to breathe, that I finally noticed how dry my mouth was and how my throat was hurting from my silent screams during the initial fall. As Tilly released the parachute, I could feel my cheeks ache from smiling too widely. I relished every second we had in the air. I even pleaded with Tilly to let me have a try at spinning us around before we got closer to the ground.

It was over too soon. Our landing was a lot bumpier than our trip in the air as some kicked-up dirt somehow ended up in Tilly’s mouth. Still, her giddy grin would not fade as she triumphantly raised the Go-Pro she had brought on our trip, proud of the proof she had obtained of my joy during our skydiving session. Nonetheless, I didn’t care. I just knew I needed more.

“Keep it! Let’s just go again!”

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School year is finally coming to an end and I’ve been looking forward to finished my bucket list, last is skydiving. The thought of falling thousand fts high send me trembling on my both legs, yet the excitement is overpowering. I ended up sleeping for an hour doing research of people sharing their experiences. Lying on my bed as anxiety and fear overwhelm me rendering other emotions empty.

The next day, I went to the jump zone, and was brought back to reality by the death waiver at the reception counter, realising how serious this sport is. The line "you can be seriously injured or even killed as a result of your participation in skydiving," set my mind blank and the word “death” resonates in my head as I stare blankly at the paper. After serious consideration I decided to follow through and go with my tandem group onto the plane after we put on the jump suit. While waiting in line to board, my iron will begin to crumble like a cracker under pressure. I regret my decision. My face turns pale like a clean sheet of paper.

When the plane raised, my instructor asked me how high we are. I look out and answer 10,000 fts, but he shows me his altimeter, which says 4000 fts……I went into panic mode and my mouth dried up instantly. I could only calm myself down to take a deep breath to wake myself up.

As we approach 13000 fts, my instructor begins scooting me towards the door, then I realised I am the first to jump. When they open the door, strong wind rushes to my face forcing my eyes shut and taking my breathe away with it. Looking down weakens me, as my conscious starts to fade away, I fight for what’s left and not pass out from this death involved sport.

My instructor begins counting to three. As the count continue my heart beats louder and my breathing got heavier. My vision, conscious, and senses all malfunctions for first few seconds of the jump and only feel powerful breeze all over my pale face. I regain control and able to enjoy what fear took away from me; freedom. The view from thousand fts high set myself free like a fluffy cloud floating high in the sky.

I thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated this experience, but I won’t be falling twice.

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"Everyone remember, do keep calm and so not panic, you're in safe hands."
I sat at the back of the helicopter muttering to myself, "Surely this thing shouldn't even be legal, what psychopath thought that jumping off a plane was a good idea."
Turns out losing a bet to a friend was not the best thing to happen to me that weekend, especially one who is an adrenaline junkie. I had no choice but to honor my side of the agreement and join him in skydiving.

After waiting for a while, it was finally my turn. I sat on the edge of the helicopter, with wind blasting into my face. I leaned slightly forward holding onto the handle out of curiosity just to see how high we were. I jumped back and repeatedly said " No, I can't do this."

I turned to my friend who had a cheeky grin on his face and all he said was, "stop wasting our time, just jump." My instructor saw how nervous I was and tried to assure me by telling me that he had done this a few hundred times.

"3,2,1... Jump!" As soon as he said jump, I shut my eyes and jumped. It felt like I was hovering over a giant fan. I hesitated but managed to open my eyes and was taken aback by the breathtaking view. From the soft looking clouds to the tiny looking buildings and the open lush green field. The little moment of weightlessness as the adrenaline rushed through my veins was such memorable feeling.

As we descended, the parachute opened and we gliding safely to the open field. I had such a wide smile on my face and even thought to myself, I cannot believe I just jumped out of a plan. Maybe I should join my friend on more of such activities.

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“Aren’t you scared?” my sister asked me.

“Obviously?! But I would love to experience the thrill that I would get from being 14000 feet above the ground.” I basically screamed internally because the excitement I felt just by imagining myself in the air.

“Take care, okay?” My sister furrowed her eyebrows as she did not understand why I was so excited.

All these were the last things I remember while sitting nervously in the aircraft.

Then I felt my anxiety rising.

What if the parachute does not open?

What if the aircraft crashes?

What if….

My anxiety continued to rise as the aircraft flew even higher.

While mumbling so many possible ‘What ifs’, my instructor, Aston, laughed and said

“Jeez, don’t worry! You’re under really good hands. You will love the feeling.” I laughed off anxiously, as I looked out of the aircraft and realizing how high up I am.

“Get ready!” Aston basically shouted as we could barely hear each other while passing me the goggles. As the door slides open, my instructor and I sat at the edge of the aircraft ready to fall off.  The wind was so strong that I caused me to close my eyes even with the goggles on.

“3,2,1!” I opened my eyes as we fell off the aircraft. I extended both my arms out in the air knowing that I should enjoy this moment. Wow, the view was spectacular. Even though what I saw in the beginning was mostly water, as we were closer to the ground it was a view of Brisbane that I would have never seen if not for skydiving. It was so true that during that 1 minute of free fall, we were falling so fast, but my eyes were able to catch a good look of the scenery. When the parachute opened and slowed down the falling. While knowing that I was actually in good hands, my heart slowed down and I took time to enjoy the view that I would only be able to see from sky diving.

Once we landed, I already knew I was going to feel a sore in my legs the next day since my legs felt so weak.

“I loved it! Definitely doing this again!” I shouted. While falling flat on my back, looking up in the sky knowing that I have no regrets.

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My friend and I were walking on a street talking casually until we came across a poster which caught our attention. It says, “ Skydiving is just a leap away from you. As we are featuring a special promotion for first timers and if you come with your friends as it will be on us! So come and join us in experiencing skydiving today! We look forward to having you! ”.  We both looked at each other and thought why not since both of us have nothing on later in the day. Also, we thought we should do something really crazy since it is a once in a lifetime experience. We went on to the website on the poster and booked a timeslot for our skydiving session and made our way there.

When we reached the place, the instructor taught us how to wear our harness, helmet and the safety rules and regulations of skydiving. After which, he led us to the plane. As soon as the plane took off, I saw the change in the altitude meter. The altitude was increasing rapidly, and my heart was thumping as I was nervous but at the same time excited. About 20 minutes later, the plane has reached the altitude of 15000ft, and this is where we were preparing to jump off of the plane.

As the instructor said to me: “On a count of 3, we will jump off the plane. Alright?” I had taken a quick glance down and saw what I was going to jump off into, the sky below me looked like I was looking at a photo at my phone and was hallucinating and pretending that this was a dream, I had even pinched myself to make sure that this was the reality I was going to face. I felt like I was going to puke after looking down as it made me feel nauseous and distraught at what I was going to do. But all of a sudden, I hear, “3, 2, 1,”  the instructor, my friend and I jumped into what I had thought was going to be the end of my entire life, but the instructor had told me to remain calm as I was panicking and reminded us that he will be guiding us along the way and making sure that our safety stays priority as that is one of their mottos. In the middle while diving, I felt a sense of relief as I had glided along the wind but that is when he told us to pull our parachutes and which we did. After it was pulled, I had felt so relieved to the point I just wanted to get this over and done with and when we reached the ground, I had this thought in mind that I never EVER want to go back and try or experience skydiving ever again, it had felt like my entire world was upside down and was going in circles and felt so nauseated after the experience. And after this day I ought to never skydive ever again in my life.

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I stood there frozen in shock as I sat on the plane rethinking my decisions.

“How did I agree to this? Why did I agree to this? Why am I agreeing to jump out of a metal tube 10000 feet above the ground?” I mentally screamed at myself

My friends and I were all geared up in our skydiving suits, helmets, and parachutes with professionals guiding us. As we were each getting strapped onto a professional instructor, I felt my heart pounding out of fear and nervousness. I felt my hands starting to shake until I heard my instructor call me.

“Hey! Are you okay? You looked like you’ve seen your whole family get slaughtered right in front of you.” he chuckled at the last part
“Well to be fair, it’s not like I strap up in skydiving gear and fly up to this height every day of my life” I replied to him with a snarky tone.
“T-MINUS 2 MINUTES TILL JUMP OFF” the pilot yelled.

My heart started beating faster. “Oh god, this is happening. Everything should be safe right?” I mentally asked myself.
My instructor started shouting “WE’RE JUMPING IN 5…4…3…2…1…”
I squeezed my eyes tight shut. I felt the wind blowing in my face but I dare not open my eyes. I could feel that we were spinning in midair until it suddenly became somewhat stable, the wind was still strong but we were not moving as much, which was somewhat reassuring. I felt a tap on my shoulder and a faint voice in the midst of all the blowing wind saying “open your eyes you won’t regret a thing!”.
I mentally prepared myself before slowly opening my eyes, but once I opened them all my regrets vanished into thin air. The sky was bright blue and the clouds somehow gave me a sense of comfort. I looked off into the distance and saw the scenery, the city was in the distance and the hills had such a vibrant green to them. It was like a painting that came to life.

The parachute opened up and our speed slowed down, this gave me more time to take in the beautiful scenery.
“Still have any regrets?” the instructor asked
“Nope,” I said with a big grin on my face.

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In the ancient Greek myths, there were 3 gods heralded as the 3 ultimate rulers of the sky, the sea, and the Underworld. To this day, we are in connection with atleast 2 of the three. Many religions believe in a afterlife, to pass on to the world of the dead and to be judged by the 3 Underworld Judges to determine their afterlife. Many enjoy being in water. To feel the cold tides of the sea as it washed their worries away. But that leaves one left, no?

Sorry but, its all preference and all, but THE SKY IS THE BEST. To feel the air whipping past your face as you zoom through the skies is a feeling completely different from what many people are used to. You see, sea enjoyers, you won't ever have that feeling of being unrestrained.

Which leads to the main topic I want to get to. Skydiving.

Skydiving. Is. Sick.

I can only imagine the freedom falling from the sky. The wind rolling past you as you freefall back to earth (with a parachute, of course), encapturing the feeling of a god descending onto mortal soil (yes this is a reminder that when you go skydiving next, you should shout "I HAVE ARRIVED, LOWLY BEINGS" really loudly).

Oh sorry, I should probably change that to "about to experience the freedom falling from the sky".

There's something different about being in a plane, and on the plane.
The former gives you in-flight entertainment, refreshments, whatever you could ask for. A toilet, and things.
Being on a plane, well, I'll let you imagine what that feels like (scary, duh).

Strangely, being on a plane gave me very "How To Train Your Dragon" feelings. That one scene where Hiccup freefalls from Toothless was amazing from the spectator view.
Then the guy I'm strapped to, jumps.

He just jumps. There's no warning, or maybe I didn't hear one, who knows. All I know is that the guy just, jumped. Off the plane and into the sky. Was I prepared? NO, absolutely not. Did I think I was about to die? No (yes, yes, it's so a yes, I started screaming like I was a Disney Princess on a permanent high note).

So what happens after the jump?
Well, wait for volume 2 and you'll find out.
Yes, yes, marketing, I know.

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“Oh god, oh god, oh god…” I murmured silently to myself. “London bridge is falling down, falling down, London bridge is falling down, my fair lady…” I sang, desperately trying to calm myself down by singing my childhood lullaby, while currently sitting in a helicopter, 14,000 feet off the ground.  It then took me a while to process the irony of the situation. While scowling and shaking, I cursed silently under my breath. I was absolutely petrified of heights. It had always been a huge fear of mine since little. I remembered that when I was 12, I even refused to jump off this mini board which was half a metre off the ground. The other kids had no problem doing so, only me. Coming back to my senses, I started to rub my hands together to calm myself down, it was something my mother used to do to me whenever I was nervous, and it never failed to calm me down. However, this time, it was a failed attempt.

My sweaty palms made me even much more nervous, wondering about whether the sweat will fly off my palms and blind my vision when falling, or whether the parachute would get ruined by the sweat, or whether I even remember to release the parachute. All sorts of negative possibilities were running through my head. I got even more afraid. My whole body started to tremble tremendously, and I could feel myself gasping for air. I also started to feel nauseous, all I could think about now was how my delicious breakfast made by my mom was going to come to a waste.

Huh. Mom. She was the one who motivated me to come experience this. She had been diagnosed with stage 2 Breast Cancer a few months ago, and every week, she must go for treatments, which was an extremely painful process for her to go through at her old age. I remember how shocked and distressed I was when I heard the news.

One of my mother’s goals in life was to go parachuting. “I want to experience how birds feel, how free they feel just flying around the sky, how they can see the whole world,” she had said, with a pleased smile on her pale face. When I heard about this, I knew I had to complete it for her. “You can do it, yes you can! “I tried my best to compose myself. “You have to do this for mom,” I said to myself, trying to gain some confidence. While I was lost in my thoughts, the intercom rang.

“And…10 more seconds to take-off…10…9…8…7…6…5…” The captain hollered through the intercom system.

I slowly stood up, legs still shaking, and walked slowly to the door of the helicopter. Then, I did one final check to make sure I had all the necessary equipment.

“…4…3…2…and…1”

Taking in a huge breath, I jumped.

Plunging through the air, I was terrified at first. I could feel the strong wind blowing through my face even with the safety goggles on. My arms and legs were also swaying around in the air. “AHHHH,” I screamed out, not out of fear, but rather happiness. “AHHHHHHHH,” I slowly chuckled to myself with a huge grin plastered on my face. It was all so thrilling, seeing the world right below. I could truly understand what my mom was talking about at this point. It felt as if time had stopped, like the whole world was yours.

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“No…no…NO I am not doing this I don’t care” The platform creaked as I couldn’t help but crouch at the side, head tucked all the way to my stomach, as if I were some contortionist. I mean I admit, I can be a little crazy at times and end up in the most messed up of situations. But THIS? Never in a million years would I have thought I’d be here. And yet I’m at the edge of a plane, about to jump thousands of feet above ground. My eyes slowly made way to the girl putting on safety straps at the other end, trying to give her the fiercest glare I could manage...which probably was of no use seeing how her lips were all perked up, eyes glinting. Well, who else but my supposed best friend, Kat could put this off? I mean I knew she was planning something for my birthday, but I didn’t think she would really drag me skydiving…WHEN I AM SCARED OF HEIGHTS? This isn’t a gift; this is just punishment.

“Come on, this is nothing! It’s not even as high as the ones I usually do” Re-opening my eyes that I had previously shut tight, I once again saw the trees that were once felt so big, now seemingly so tiny they could fit into the likes of my palms. I must have been mad. Absolutely mad. Because if I didn’t already feel like I could vomit all my internal organs out, I sure do now. My heart clenched as I looked at Kat and then at the plane’s open window again. I knew if I didn’t jump it would mean that all her efforts to plan my birthday would go to waste. Plus I’ve never even told her about my acrophobia. But just the thought of jumping was enough to make my stomach churn. Almost as if she noticed my turmoil, Kat strode over while adjusting the last of the straps. She placed her hand on mine and gave it a good squeeze.

“Just trust me, if I didn’t think you’d enjoy this I wouldn’t have brought you here” And in that moment, looking into her gleaming eyes, it was almost as if all my fear had disappeared. Almost. In reality, my legs were shaking so much I thought I lost all ability to walk. Trying to ignore that feeling of impending doom, I started walking closer to the jumping platform with Kat, our fingers intertwined.

“Whenever you’re ready” The skydiving instructor called out.

Letting my weight of my body fall forward, I took one big breath and closed my eyes. The feeling of wind in my face, fresh air rushing through my body. It felt like I was flying…free from the weights of this world. The nervousness I once felt was replaced with excitement and thrill. Around us, stood the lush greenery and vivid clear skies. Ironically, I’ve never felt more freedom in my life. At the corner of my eye, I saw Kat grinning, mouthing the words; “told you so”, to which I couldn’t help chuckling to.

Plummeting through the skies, time seemed to last forever. The same way they describe it in books and movies; and if not for Kat…I would have probably never experienced this inexplicable feeling.

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‘Jason! Let’s go skydiving tomorrow!’

‘Sky…..skydiving?’

‘Why? Are you scared? Come on, we came to New Zealand, let’s try something new!’

‘S…sure’

Then, I did not know what I have gotten myself into. Here I am now, standing in front of the registration counter, signing my life away.

And so we did. The instructor gave us a safety briefing, and we geared up and head toward the plane.

My hands started shaking as we boarded the plane, and I cringed with fear. I peeked out of the window, and the vast infinity blue sky with dashes of white filled my eyes. I was mesmerised. It was the first time I saw the sky without tall buildings obstructing it, after living in the city throughout my entire life. The fear that I had somehow or rather disappeared after watching the scene before my eyes. My heart was at peace.

It was not long until I was snapped back into reality as the pilot announced, ‘We are now 14,000 feet above land. Get ready!’ A bolt of panic hit me. The door opened as a strong gust of wind slapped us in our faces. My heart started racing as I see Ben jumping off the plane which meant that it would be my turn very soon.

The instructor signalled me to go towards the door. I hesitated as millions of ‘what ifs’ raced through my head. Left with no choice, I walked warily towards the door.

‘On the count of three, we will jump. Let’s do it!’

I shut my eyes tightly and plunged into the vast sky. The wind threw me off guard and a sudden adrenaline rush overwhelmed me. I lost control of my body as though gravity did not exist. The wind stretched the skin of my face to the back and I was turning in all sorts of directions. I slowly opened my eyes and the scenery was spectacular. I realised how high we were when the mountains looked like road bumps, every single thing looked tiny.

After around 20 seconds of free fall, the parachute opened and slowed our descent. The parachute stabilised us which gave us a better view of the scenery. I quickly grabbed the opportunity to enjoy the view. It was spectacular.

‘How was it? Amazing! wasn’t it?’ Ben shouted across the wide field as soon as he spotted me. I silently nodded my head. Would the Jason from 2 weeks skydive? I highly doubt so. Nonetheless, I am extremely proud that the Jason today, did it. It was truly an amazing experience that I would never ever forget.

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Sharks. All kinds of sharks are my favourite animal, small to medium to large, that is why I am so excited to meet them today.

Cage diving has always been a dream of mine ever since I laid my eyes on a shark. Imagine meeting Madonna or your favourite celebrity, that is how I feel like now.

"Lower the cage!" The instructors said.

As I slowly went deeper into the sea, it became harder to keep in my excitement and curiosity. I felt like I could burst at any moment. The water was clear for a few minutes, not a single movement could be felt. I held my breath in anticipation, hoping the sharks would swim near my cage soon.

All of a sudden, my body flew from one end of the cage to the other. My heart pounded so fast it was as if I had just finished a marathon. What was that? Was it a shark? I slowly turned my head around and there right in front of me was a great white shark, about 20 feet long, swimming with grace.

My eyes widen in excitement and also a bit of fear, afterall it was extremely humongous with it's beautiful set of teeth as sharp as diamond. Thankfully I was in water, if not you could see my excessive perspiration in action. I felt like ants that have discovered a kid’s secret candy stash, but also like a mouse in a lion's den.

Soon after, two more sharks came, though not as big as the first one, they were still magnificent to admire.

One of the sharks managed to get a hold of one of the bars of the cage, it my heart leaped into my throat. What was even more frightening was that the sharks teeth were so close to me that I could see the leftovers from it's lunch, it was slightly disgusting. I almost threw up my lunch. The shark went away quickly, I was slightly bummed out because it was amazing to see a shark so close in person.

We stayed in the cage for thirty minutes before I had to unfortunately, bid farewell to the ethereal sharks. The experience was exhilaration and my live for sharks grew even bigger, I would definitely do cage diving again.

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How beautiful. The seawater was reflecting the light shone by the sun. Small waves were rocking the yacht. I just wish there weren't sharks in there. As I looked further away from the yacht, I noticed there was a fin emerging from the sea level. Shit! Suddenly, all the memories of the videos I watched of things going wrong while cage diving surfaced into my mind. Even though in all the examples that I researched online, none of the victims had physical injuries, some still developed trauma that are still being treated for up till today.

"Get ready! We're about to head down in 5 minutes!"

I snapped back into reality. Looking at a new fin that was emerging nearby, I imagined a future scenario. I am at a dinner with my friends telling them about my experience. Scenario A. I tell them about how my fear got the best of me and so I did not do it. They laugh and ridicule me and I do the same back at them. Scenario B. I tell them about my experience and boast to them. Cage diving suddenly did not seem so bad after all.

As the others around me were climbing down into the cage, I looked around the yacht one last time before doing the same. My left foot dips into the water. So cold! My right foot followed and soon, my whole body was fully emerged in the sea. I slowly looked around to get used to my surroundings. As I turn my head around, I lift my eyes to see a shark swimming by. Sharks attacking the cage was normal right? I do not have to worry right? I will not die here right? I turned around to look at another tourist. She was smiling at the sharks. Her eyes curved and wrinkles started appearing beside her eyes. I looked back at the sharks. I started looking more closely. Apart from its predatory nature, it is the first time I ever got to see a shark this close. Slowly, a smile started appearing on my face too.

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My heart pounded as I looked down from where I was 14 000 feet in the air. I was about to skydive, an activity only people with a death-wish participated in.

Yet here I was, someone who definitely did not want to die, about to jump from an airplane in the sky. I had lost a bet with my friends, and what had started as a harmless joke was genuinely happening. I was definitely going to get back at them for this.

The journey up to this altitude was nerve-wracking. I could do nothing but watch as the plane jerkily took off, slowly ascending, straying further and further away from the ground. I bowed my head and said a quick prayer to all the gods out there, asking for safety.

Now, here I was.

I gripped the railing in the helicopter so tightly that my knuckles turned white. My breaths came like I had just run a marathon, and my whole body was trembling. The blue sky was right in front of me. I would have found it to be a beautiful sight if I wasn’t engulfed in terror. I turned around and looked at the professionals around me, swiftly doing their last minute checks, making sure we would be able to land on the ground safely. Their calmness only made me feel more stressed.

“Are you ready?” My instructor asked me. The sounds the airplane was making were deafening so I could barely hear her.

“Hypothetical question, what would happen if I puke while we’re freefalling?” I asked as my stomach did somersaults.

My instructor laughed. “I’ll just try to make sure you don’t puke all over us. But don’t worry, that won’t happen. I’ve done this for 10 years and not once has anyone puked during the freefall,” She laughed and gave me a reassuring smile.

“Well, there’s a first for everything…” I mumbled as she started strapping me up to her. The way the straps dug into my skin was uncomfortable and almost painful, but it also made me feel safer, so I embraced the discomfort. If I was about to die, at least I wouldn’t have to do it alone.

Finally, we were all strapped up and ready to take the leap. I steadied my breaths, hoping for my heartbeat to slow down. The churning in my stomach was not helping my case in terms of me puking, but I tried to push it down as best I could.

My instructor started the countdown.

3.

I shut my eyes.

2.

I took a deep breath.

1.

My feet left the plane.

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“Go with me please… It's gonna be fun, I swear. Think of it as fulfilling a birthday wish of mine.” My good friend pleaded with me as she tugged on my arm, inviting me to skydive with her. “ Although I was extremely unwilling, the thought of fulfilling the birthday wish of my good friend I had not seen in a while, made me agree. “YES!” she cheered as she dragged me to purchase the tickets.

Before I knew it, I was already on the way to the helicopter, where we would be skydiving from. As we walked closer to the helicopter, I could not help but think of what one of the instructors had told us, I mumbled to my friend, “Is it too late now for me to back out. I don't think I can do this.” “You’ll be fine.” My friend said as she dragged me up onto the helicopter.

On the helicopter, our instructors shouted loudly over the chopping sounds of the helicopter blades about what to take note of as we were diving. I could not help as I looked out to see the jaw-dropping height we were on and clammed my eyes shut and whispered words to try and calm myself down.  “Okay, time to go everyone” they said as I heard myself getting clipped together with my instructor as we inched closer to the edge of the helicopter. “YOU CAN DO THIS JIAYOU!” my friend shouted as she cheered for me. I looked at her in disbelief. “3! 2! 1! GO!” My instructor jumped off the helicopter with me. “AHHHHHH!! OMG! OMG!” I screamed in fear, clenching my fist and keeping my eyes shut tightly, I could feel myself falling. My stomach churned and I felt butterflies in my stomach.

I took a peek at the scenery as I slowly opened my eyes. “Woah, the view is amazing, maybe this is not so bad.” Gradually, I began to relax. I looked up to see my friend skydiving and wondered did I look like that?

A while later, the instructor opened the parachute and soon after we landed. As we walked out of the place, my friend asked, “How was it? Okay right.” To which I confidently said that I would try it again another time.

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My 18th birthday surprise will forever be etched in my mind... It was my birthday week, my parents brought me to my dream destination, New Zealand. I was thrilled but little did I know that I was about to face my fear…

“Good morning birthday girl! We have planned something exciting for your birthday!” exclaimed my mother. It was 7 in the morning. Why so early? I woke up feeling groggy because of the jet lag. I kept wondering where we were going. I hoped it was something fun. We got in the car and my father drove off. After 40 minutes of driving, we reached our destination. I was shocked.

“Oh no… Why are we going to a skydiving centre when I have a fear of heights?” I whispered to myself. My heart started to palpitate as we move towards the centre.

As we reached the skydiving centre, we did a short safety course which we learned where to we had to place our arms, legs, hands, feet, and torso in the correct spots. We also watched short clips of skydives to mimic their body position. After the safety course, it was time for skydiving which I was not looking forward to. My parents were smiling from ear to ear.  Meanwhile, my legs were trembling in fear. We were suited in skydiving jumpsuits and strapped with safety equipment. Soon, we boarded into a small turbine-engine aircraft. We fit inside like sardines. The aircraft took us all the way to 10,000 feet. As it was my first time, I had to be strapped with an instructor.

When I was in the aircraft, everything seemed so small to me. It was an unfamiliar point of view. For a moment, I forget what we are here for and just enjoy the beautiful view. At 10,000 ft, everyone gets ready. I had mixed feelings. My mother holds my shoulder and whispered in my ear, “See you soon.”

My mother jumped off first and followed by my father. Next, it was my turn. I could feel the adrenaline rushing in my blood.

“Are you ready?” the instructor asked me.

I had no choice. There was no turning back. I nodded my head. My instructor counted down… and we jumped! I felt the wind rushing against my face as we fell to the ground. There was a loud rush of wind that sounded similar to blowing into a microphone. Everything became peaceful once the parachute opened. I admired the magnificent view of the beautiful perspective of this world. This was definitely one of the scariest but most exhilarating experiences of my life.

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Here I am on the boat with two of my best friend. The three of us, ever since secondary school have been doing the most ridiculous stuff together for as long as our 12 years friendship. But this is something I have never imagine myself doing and either do they.

After 12 years of being friends, we decide to go on a trip to celebrate our long lasting friendship by going to Bahamas. Planning to go at least for 2 weeks. It is our first ever overseas trip together. The three of us are feeling excited to get going imagining what we would want to do there.

Arriving at the Bahamas we didn’t not plan on what we would like to do. Instead we wanted to go with the flow and see how things will align. For the first week we familiarise ourselves with the locals and do activities and go to places within and nearby our airbnb.

As we were walking back to our airbnb on a Saturday night from a nearby park. Suddenly a local who we see frequently and greeted now and then approaches us and offered to bring us somewhere for an adventure. With no hesitation the three of us said "Yes" simultaneously. From there he said to us to meet him on Tuesday morning and he will be waiting outside the airbnb we are staying. After we parted, we then realised that we didn't asked him where will he be bringing us.

On the Tuesday morning, we worked up about 6am and got ready by 9am. As soon as we walked out the door the local who's name is Thiago was already waiting for us outside with his Jeep. Not knowing where we are heading, we enjoy the scenery while driving to the destination. "Splash splash" the sounds of the waves crashing against each other. We reach the destination facing a beautiful landscape of the ocean. Thiago then greeted us with Scuba diving suit and oxygen tanks. The three of us were taken aback and confused by his actions. When Thiago saw the look on our faces he then pointed to a boat that was waiting for us by the side of the ocean.

Boarding the boat, Thiago finally explain to us what activity we will be doing. "CAGE DIVING". As soon as those words came out he mouth three of us gave each other the look of what have we gotten ourselves into. Knowing each other, we know that the three is never a fan of this type of things.The three of us also the fear of being deep in the ocean. Not only that but we have to see sharks.

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“Are you okay?” My friend, Paul, nudged at me before asking. I nodded and smiled a thin smile, trying to convince him that I was, but in reality, I was not. He shook his head in response and patted my back as a sign of comfort. Acrophobia. My only weakness. I could do anything but place me at any height, my confidence just slips away. The feeling is extremely terrifying. My legs feel like jelly. Perspiration is dripping down from my forehead and my hands. The only thing I can think of is to escape from that hell. Unfortunately, I can’t do that today. This is the day where I face my fears, together with my best friend who gave his ultimate support. Squatting near the edge of the door of the helicopter, I gulped the remaining saliva in my mouth and licked my chapped lips. Gripping my pants as tight as I could, I closed my eyes and tried my best to calm down my raging nerves. I clasped my hands together, silently praying to God that I would make it out alive. Feeling a quick and sudden tap at my elbow, I opened my right eye to see Paul pointing at the scenery in front of us while uttering “Trust me, look.” Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes and allowed the scenery to take over me. Man, Paul was right. The clear blue skies, the greenery of the trees, the refreshing, clear blue water bodies and the tiny houses and people. A view of the world was way different from up here than down there. I could even see the vast horizon stretching all the way until I could almost see the end. Breathing the fresh, cool air, I finally felt peace. “Andy, you can jump in about a minute!” the instructor shouted above the noise while doing the last adjustments of our safety gear. I breathed in and out for a couple of seconds while nervously wiping my sweaty palms on my pants, before hitting my head a few times to bring myself together. This is your chance Andy, take the opportunity! Finally, I gave a small nod as a sign of my readiness before Paul, the instructor and I jumped and took off. Spreading my arms and legs, we formed a circle and I looked around me. The view was still beautiful as ever, together with the thumbs up signs from the both of them. I felt so light! Further relaxing and surrendering myself, I felt significantly happier and better. It was as if my worriedness was nowhere to be seen, but replaced with a sense of accomplishment and happiness. Soon, we landed on the ground with the parachutes laying on the ground behind us. Taking my helmet off, I gave the biggest smile and hugged both of them as a sense of gratitude for accompanying me to the greatest challenge in my entire life. Ruffling my flat hair, I figured my thoughts of my acrophobia have disappeared for good from my life.

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12000 feet in the air.

That’s the height the plane I’m in is at. However, I’m not taking a relaxing flight to my dream holiday destination, though I wish I was. Instead of the crystal blue waters and golden sandy beaches of the Maldives that I had been dying to experience, I was unwillingly dragged along by my brother to try skydiving in New Zealand. The worst part of this whole ordeal is, I have a horrible fear of heights.

The red light at the side of the plane door dimmed while the green light brightened, signifying that it was now okay for us to jump. When the door of the plane lifted open, revealing the countless mountains below, I felt as if a doorway to hell had opened and death was waiting for me there. My brother was the first to jump and there wasn’t an ounce of hesitation or fear on his face as his instructor held onto the plane with him facing downwards. He was even smiling! How crazy must he be to enjoy the feeling of jumping to his death? On the count of 3, his instructor pushed them both off the edge of the plane as I watched them quickly shrink into two dark specks in the scenery below. I felt my instructor stand up shortly after they had jumped and the feeling of doom quickly settled in my stomach as he brought us closer and closer to the open door of the plane.

I was forced to lean face down as my instructor started the countdown to jump off the plane. I shut my eyes as I refused to see the horrifying sight below me, afraid that I might pass out after seeing it. “Ok we are going to jump at the count of 3”, I heard my instructor say.

“1…”

This is truly going to be the countdown to my death.

“2…”

I can’t do this.

Before I could instinctively grab on to the sides of the plane for my life, my instructor had jumped off at 2 instead of 3 like previously agreed on.

To my horror, I am now falling.

I felt the wind that constantly blew against my face, making any form of screaming impossible. I tried opening my eyes with much difficulty. While the height itself was making my head spin from terror, the view of the snow-capped mountains below me was a gorgeous sight to behold. Including the strong gust of winds blowing against me, it made me feel like I was flying, a magical feeling that I have never felt before. And for the first time in my life, I no longer felt fear.

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The adrenaline rushed through my veins as I looked out of the plane. Everyone looked like ants from up here. It was my first time skydiving. When I was a kid I like to jump off from my bed with a blanket over my head, pretending that I was flying off from the sky. I have always wondered what it would be like to fly off from a plane. And now it has finally answered my question. Here I am in the plane, getting ready to jump off. I was excited yet nervous. My legs turned jelly as I look down. I was 14,000 ft. off the ground. As the instructor called my name, my heart pounded as if it were a train on the tracks.  There was no turning back and I knew I had to just go for it. The instructor pull the door open as the wind brushes through my nervous face. I was afraid, so I closed my eyes as the instructor moved out from the plane. That is when my heart dropped. I am falling in the sky. A few seconds in, I opened my teary eyes. I can't believed it. I am actually flying in the air! It felt so surreal. Not only I get to experience such eye opening experience, I get to enjoy the beautiful view from above! The air was so powerful that I could not control my arms. I thought it would feel like a roller coaster but I felt like I was flying like a bird. It felt like I was floating on a cushion. A few seconds later, the instructor launched the parachute and we were floating towards the drop zone. I was glad that I was able to touch the ground soon but also wished that I could stay up in the air longer. As we landed, I look up at the sky and told myself, till we meet once again.

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I look down at the ground, the world seeming small from thirty-thousand feet up in the sky. The wind gushing against my face. I can hear the helicopter’s engine even through the aviation headsets.

“Are you guys ready?” I look down once again and I freeze. The excitement I felt prior seemingly blown away by the wind. I look around and saw one of the other sky divers jumping out of the helicopter, his cheer lingered as he dived.

“I don’t feel so excited no more.” I told my instructor. He laughed, reassuring me that it’ll be fine. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. The howling of the wind seemed to grow louder as fear rose up to my throat.

“Ok, Champ. I’m buckling up!” Said my instructor. I could hear metals clanging against each other as he coupled our harnesses together.

“Parachute. Check!” He exclaimed to himself. I took another deep breath as he jumped off the helicopter, taking me with him.

“OHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” I screamed. I heard my instructor laugh faintly as we dove through the air. The landscape below me grows as we dive down. I could not help myself but giggle as I imagine being a character in a video game or a secret spy sent on a secret mission.

“What’s so funny?!” My instructor shouted at me. I could hear the amusement in his voice when moments before he was trying to reassure me there was nothing to be scared of.

“I can’t help but laugh at the thought of being a spy” I shouted back. The world below me grows faster as we come closer to the ground. I hear the parachute deploy, the wind knocked out of me as inertia took place.

“Wow.” I exclaim, taking in the beauty of the landscape around me.

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They began to throw chum into the water near the cages, the water was dyed red with bits of pieces of meat. The live fishes who are nearer to us begin to swim away and soon the greyed figure from far comes nearer and nearer and when it reaches the cage, it was white with a mixture of greyness. It was cool and scary up-closed.
About an hour passed and some disturbance was on the deck. The guide signed to me that he will go checked it out. I continue looking around and was mesmerized by the color of the water, as the color-saturated from light to deep dark pitch black.
Suddenly the wave became harsh, I surface up the closed caged, the sky was already filled with dark clouds the people panicked on deck. The next thing I know a large wave hits the boat causing it to capsize in the sudden rough weather. In the process of capsizing, the rusted bolts snapped and the closed cage began to sink. I could see a live boat deployed around the capsized boat and my surrounding became dark blue.
Trapped in the cage sinking as it sinks fast. My body became weak and my mind had a massive headache, together with dizziness and came confusion and my vision had problems seeing clearly. This sickness was most likely decompression sickness from altitude diving.
The cage reaches a stop as it landed on a cliff of an ocean floor. Time felt stop as the surround was dark blue, I was lying down on the surface of the cage in pain from the altitude sickness. As my mind was adapting to the pain, I realized my scrub gear tank was leaking out air because there is a crack most likely from the capsize incident. Fear was filled and I panicked, eventually I realize as I panic the lesser oxygen I will have. I have no chose to come to peace and accepted my soon-to-be death. It is so terrifying but nothing can be helped. The ocean depth is so peaceful cold and quiet only the bubbles from my gear can be heard. Soon my mind became blank and the dizziness took over. I began to suffocate from no air and I stopped.

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The sudden start up of the engines of the airplane left me startled. I was deep in thought as i was just about to do the most amazing activity that i have dreamed of- skydiving. Suddenly i felt an arm on my shoulder and my head shot backwards almost immediately to come face to face with the instructor. He smiled at me and asked, "Scared?".   i scratched my head and smiled a little as i nod my my head it was my first time after all any ways.

Staring out of the window, watching the buildings get smaller, i was imagining all the possible scenarios that could happen. Many what ifs scenarios started popping up and the fear inside me started to grow. breathe in, breathe out, you got this. A voice inside my head started saying. I cant believe i am starting to freak out, this was what i been looking forward to for the longest time.

At about 14000 feet above ground the plane suddenly started to slow down. I started walking backwards inside the plane. All of a sudden i slip and feel on my butt. Darn why are the bottom of my feet producing so much cold sweat? As i sat back up i opened my mouth to say:" maybe i should just ..." before i could even finish the instructor cut in and said, " Are you hurt anywhere? No? okay good so later remember to..." and he continued on with his safety briefing. All i could do was sit there silently and listen to him as i nod away.
When the plane has completely stopped moving upwards, i stood up and started to get ready with the help of the instructor.  As i stood at the door of the plane i stared straight out at the clouds and took a deep breath as i said to my self: this is it.
I screamed for my dear life as i jumped out of the plane but the adreline rush that rushed through me made me remember why i always wanted to try this and i smile mid air.

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The roar of the boat’s motor came to a halt. I stayed seated on the bench, feeling a pit growing in my tummy as I watched the others get into their wetsuits. Two crew members, both tan and wearing sunglasses, were setting up a human-sized rat trap to the side of the boat. As they lowered the metal cage into the sea, the captain of the boat enthusiastically clapped his hands and with a singsong voice exclaimed,

“Are we ready to go swimming with one of the world’s greatest apex predators! Don’t worry if a shark approaches too closely, our state of the art iron bars will keep you protected. But remember! Always keep your limbs inside the cage and goggles tightly worn!”

Looks of thrill and excitement graced the faces of our tour group while terror was crippling down mine. Like a bolt from the blue, my head received a direct impact. Soon my entire vision was covered, followed by a trail of laughter. I lifted the fabric and was greeted by my grinning sister, who blurted,

“Come on, Slowpoke! Put on that wetsuit. We don’t have all day!” I begrudgingly obeyed and equipped myself from head to toe. This was not my idea of fun but I had to honour a lost bet.

Eyes fixating on the watery grave, I dragged my feet towards the edge of the boat, my heart thumping louder with each step. With a big breath, I took a plunge, breaking the surface of the water, a curtain of white air bubbles drifted upwards revealing a vast blue abyss. Right then, chunks of meat slowly sank outside the cage in our vicinity. Within seconds, we were all surrounded by the great whites. I clung tightly to my sister, holding on for dear life. She gave gestures of reassurance as I acclimatised myself to the potential dangers lurking nearby. Although I was goosebumps ridden, it was then that I finally understood the haunting beauty of the wild ocean beast and its ferocious bite.

We came out of the waters breathless, awestruck and proud.

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It was a crystal clear blue day. The sun was shining its ferocious glares onto earth which lit up the whole atmosphere.  "What a perfect day for skydiving!" I exclaimed excitedly and I could not believe I was able to skydive for the first time in my life. My family and I were on our two-week vacation in Australia and skydiving was one of the highlights of our trip.

Upon reaching the helipad, my family and I were briefed by a group of expats on the safety precautions needed and how to skydive in a safe manner. Soon enough after all the mundane stuff, we put on our skydiving suits and then finally made our way to board the helicopter.

As the helicopter gained elevation, I could not help but squeal delightedly at the sight of the Australian desert - yellow, brown and green hues and tones of sand lay out the whole ground. What a sight to see.

At last, we finally reached an appropriate attitude. "Guys, start skydiving now!" one of the instructors exclaimed. me being the lucky one to go first, I was brought forward to the doors. A thick gush of wind swept over my hair and face with a loud "swoosh" upon opening the door. "Dive now!' the instructor yelled.

Adrenaline rushed through my veins as the strong wind and pressure carried me forward. My hair, long as ever, swept in all directions. Loosing elevation, wide grin appeared on my face. I was in seventh heaven. The feeling of being on top of the world and being able to see the wide open Australian desert from wide above with 360 degree panoramic was truly mesmerising and intriguing!

A loud round of applause was made. I had reached the ground.

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I could almost see way past the horizon and the bright blue sky was even clearer now that we were 10000 feet in the air. I could feel my heart pounding in both excitement and fear and my clammy hands became clammier. My brother on the other hand looked as cool as a cucumber and I was  amazed at how he could keep such a cool façade.

“Okay! We’re nearing the drop position! Remember the instructions during the briefing, and let your drop guide take control on the way down,” the words of the dive instructor became muffled as the rushing air on the outside overwhelmed my ears.

As I looked over the edge of the plane, I felt a sensation I’d never felt before. My legs felt like jelly and it was as if my ability to breathe was taken away. My vision swayed and everything seemed to zoom out as if the plane just went another 20000 feet higher in the air. I backed off immediately but my brother caught me. His reassuring smile was the first thing I saw and he told me that it would be okay. I just needed to trust my dive guide. So, after a good 10 minutes of getting me on board with skydiving in the plane itself, I finally built up enough courage to do it. He finally got ready to jump and I saw my brother drop but the fear of jumping off still stayed. I heard the countdown of the dive instructor from one to ten, and we jumped.

The first thing that I felt was the cold harsh wind pushing against my face as if tiny little hands were forcing me back up into the sky. However, I noticed that my heartbeat starter stabilising and I didn’t feel as scared. I took that in and it was as if I could feel every part of my body even clearer. The clammy hands were shaking in joy and I found myself screaming to what sounded like a girls first time going on a rollercoaster. That feeling is something id never forget, and from that day no, I was never afraid to try anything to, no matter how scary.

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"You guys ready?"
"Yessir" We jumped out of the plane. Okay now to remember the procedures. Or not. The wind is so.. refreshing. I can't think anymore, the feeling I'm getting right now is just so overwhelming. I was so scared I wanted to cry.
My thoughts are now here, again.
I'm facing this big fear of mine with no way of escaping. Burn your boats. I don't know how to feel, what is this feeling anyway? It's like this is an endgame of some sort, where a part of me craves the thought of dying while the other shrinks and tries to disappear. It's like I have no choice but want the feeling of death. A conversation with my own fear? I'm ready to die. I want to die. I remember the words of Jordan Peterson, who talked about looking at the darkest places to find the light that shines, the reason to pull through, the natural inclination for mastery. I smiled. Yea, maybe no one will ever love me. The intrusive thoughts come in, what if I unbuckle and kill myself here and now?
But no. I love the challenge.
I hate this feeling. This fear of falling is taken to a level so extreme its just.. insane. Death seems to be the only option, but it's like I can't bring myself to do it too. Coward. But no. My thoughts start flooding even faster, I need a reason to live. This opportunity of facing your fears don't always come, if it comes too quickly that would be bad. I try thinking of the people I look up to, for no reason at all. Maybe there would be clues.
Kobe Bryant. He passed away at 41 years old, yet the wisdom he had was just.. no one can match it. The "Black Mamba" on and off the court. I aspire to be like him. Wait, no. It's a natural inclination of some sort maybe this is a part of me. Maybe I have no choice, maybe I'm meant to push myself to my limits every single day. I remember crying after my runs, or where I just can't see when my eyes are open, where I'm like about to faint. That was 3 months ago, I haven't been able to bring myself to do anything ever since I fell off a bike and lost all my confidence. I swear me falling was caused by some sort of curse at that forest area. I'm never ever going there again, lesson learnt.
Ground.
I did the procedure they prepared us to do and landed safely. My mind snapped back. I'm alive. I can't remember what just happened, I was thinking too much. Either way, I feel reborn. I have a lot of answers and questions that I don't have, but I will find them. I'm a new me now.