Today would have to be the one of the most exciting days in my life. I did something today I never dreamt of doing, something which is scary and extreme. I skydived!

I had organized a trip to go to SkyDive Cottonwood with the skydiving club. Elie, the President of the Club, told me that we were leaving at 8 and everything went according to plan. There were 6 of us who left at 8. Me, Elie, Mike, Greg and two more guys. In about an hours time we reached the place. I didn’t know what to expect. I was a bit scared, but I thought it wouldn’t be too bad.

Elie and Greg were certified jumpers, the rest of us were novices. We had signed up for the Accelerated Free Fall program in which we would jump with two instructors and then solo on landing with our canopy. We had a six to seven hour training class before the jump. It was scary. They constantly reminded us that our life was on the line and we could get “killed or seriously injured”. I remember that every time they said that I had second thoughts about doing it. Finally the time came when we had to do the jump.

Unfortunately it was quite late and not everyone could do it that day. I wanted to do it then and so I opted to do a tandem jump and save the AFF program for later. I wasn’t sure how it would be up there traveling at 120mph!! I wanted to experience it first and then move towards certification and so that’s what I did!

I strapped myself onto a jumpmaster and we boarded the Cessna 206. In a few minutes we were in the air and the altimeter on my wrist started moving up, towards 11,000 ft. Cottonwood is at an elevation of 3000 ft, so we made our jump at around 14,000ft above sea level. When the door of the airplane opened, I felt a cold breeze and a huge adrenalin rush. What was I doing? I could see the ground far away…I couldn’t believe it!

Soon the jumpmaster strapped on to me started climbing out, I was freaked! I stepped out onto the side of the plane and did as told, and I tried not to look down. I thought to myself then how is this going to go? How is it going to feel? Just then, I was no longer with the plane, I was freefalling covering 1000 feet in 6 secs! I couldn’t believe it, everything was going so fast! I was shocked and pumped up! The jumpmaster signaled to me to do what we had rehearsed earlier, I remembered and did so.

He then signaled to practice feeling where the rip cord was, but my fingers got numb by then. I tried 3 times but I couldn’t feel it. I gave up, I couldn’t do it. So the jumpmaster did it. Just then, I felt a tug upwards. It was the canopy. Our speed was now about 30 to 40mph. I was gliding in the air. I looked down and moved my feet. I couldn’t feel any ground below them – I just saw the mountains way below. I couldn’t believe it. Then I got control of the canopy and moved it to the right and left. Finally we descended to our drop zone and made a smooth landing. When I touched the ground, I couldn’t believe what I had done. It was awesome. I was shaken and stirred, but still alive! It was unbelievable! Mind blowing!

Everyone asked me how it was and I found myself at a lack of adjectives to describe what I felt! They all told me they felt the same way on their first jump. Elie has about a 158 jumps under his belt! That made me feel like much less than a beginner, but it was a wonderful experience nonetheless. I am pretty sure I’m going to go for certification! I mean, after all, where else do you get to go at 120mph and not get ticketed for it?

After a day or so in college again, I feel that I’m getting back on track. There were still a few side-effects from the journey – I lost all my games at ping pong and didn’t feel like playing more! But I didn’t have too much time to think about that. There were tests coming up and assignments due and meetings happening which I had to fit in to my schedule. College took over my mind again and I offered no resistance.

We had a SACNAS meeting the other day and there was talk of electing new members of the executive board. My association with SACNAS dates back to the beginning of the semester when I met Terry at the club fair. He got me interested in the club and I started attending meetings. Soon I realized that I liked the group. So anyway, at the meeting we had elections by consensus and I got elected as Vice-President! I was ecstatic – my second post in the university – and that too of a research group! Handling 18 credits and the position would be hard, but there was no way I was going to turn that position down!

]]> http://freshmanyear.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/23rd-march-2004/feed/ 0 harshm http://freshmanyear.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/23rd-february-2004/ http://freshmanyear.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/23rd-february-2004/#comments Mon, 12 May 2008 07:11:11 +0000 harshm http://freshmanyear.wordpress.com/?p=45 ]]> 23^rd February 2004

This week is pretty packed with events. There’s the career fair coming up on February 25^th and with everyone looking for internships, it’s going to be a big deal. I’m just a freshman, but I’m still going to go. Other than that, there are several things happening on campus, which I can’t seem to remember right now.

At the same time, everyone seems to be planning for the Spring Break. I’m going to go to Dallas, to my aunt’s place for the break. We’ve talked about it and I’ll probably have to leave a day or so before college ends. But it’ll be great and I can’t wait! Just two more weeks left!

Usually I’d have classes on Monday, but because of President’s Day I get to enjoy the Monday morning in my bed. The weekend was very relaxed. I lazed around and played some cricket and just hung out with my friends. It was great, couldn’t have asked for anything else!

Last week, we had a meeting for the Skydiving club and although I wanted to go for more jumps, Elie, the president told us that SkyDive Cottonwood had changed their policies and that I would have to do one more tandem and then I’d be able to continue with my program. That involved more money and so I decided to wait and ponder about it.

Today, for EGR120, our professor told us about our final design projects for the semester. We have to design a lunar habitation module and have from now till the end of the semester to do so. Although I find myself more inclined towards aeronautics, the project seems challenging. I can’t wait to begin the actual design on CATIA.

]]> http://freshmanyear.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/17th-february-2004/feed/ 0 harshm http://freshmanyear.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/13th-february-2004/ http://freshmanyear.wordpress.com/2008/05/12/13th-february-2004/#comments Mon, 12 May 2008 07:09:52 +0000 harshm http://freshmanyear.wordpress.com/?p=43 ]]> 13^th February 2004

There comes a point in every semester when you have a lot of tests. With eighteen credits, there’s bound to be one really hectic week and that’s what this week was. I had 4 tests in 5 days. But it wasn’t as easy as that. Just a few days ago, I got placement out of my math course and a chemistry course. I didn’t want to miss out on a semester of math, so I went ahead to the next course, MA243, even though it had been a month since college began.

I went up to the math professor and asked him for help, but he told me that since I was a month behind there was no way he could help me. I would have to do go through notes and presentations and finish 3 assignments and give the test a week later. One week to catch up for one month. It was scary. Especially since the test was on a chapter I’d never done before. But I knew I had to do it and so I worked my ass off studying.

The week would probably have to be the most tiring and exhausting week ever. But I know that there are more to come!

The first weekend after the first week of class was a long one and was appreciated by all the freshmen. I had nothing planned for the weekend. I’d decided to go with the flow and attend whatever was organized on campus. One night, as I was walking back to my room, I saw some of my friends heading out to their trucks. When they saw me, they invited me to join them and go “off-roading” in the mountains. The prospect seemed fun and so it wasn’t long before we were off to the mountains.

I had no idea what was in store of me and I decided to just wait and watch. As we got off the roads of Prescott and entered the rocky terrain of the mountains, the thrill began to creep in. And it got better and better. I found myself being swung aside from one side of the truck to another. Fun had taken on a new definition.

But that was just the beginning. Soon we stopped and as soon as I got out of the truck, I looked above and saw the most awesome sight ever. Right above me were the stars and galaxies. I was lost in the beauty of the sight. This seemed the closest I had ever got to them and that too at night. The chill in the air seemed to be right for the moment. Just then we decided to hike up some rocks to get a better view. The idea seemed fun, so in the next few minutes I found myself balancing myself over rocks to get to the top. Once on top, the view was breathtaking. It was a view of the whole city of Prescott below and the skies above. We seemed to be right in between heaven and earth. It was one of those moments which I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

Luckily, we all got back in one piece, although with a few scratches n bruises from the hiking. We came back pretty late, but the ride was worth it. All in all, it was a wonderful experience.

HARSH MENON

This is it. Just one final left tomorrow. Then the semester’s over – this is the end of my first year at college. It’s my first year living away from home. I might also add, really far away from home.

Looking back on my first few days, I remember being quite scared. I didn’t know anyone around and Andy Fraher was the only person I knew. I didn’t like the idea of living so far away from home and there was a lot of homesickness I had to get over. But I’ve gotten used to it now. This is my life – for as long as it takes!

But Embry-Riddle has been extremely good to me! The people have been awesome. Everyone’s friendly and there’s a lot a student can learn here. Despite all its negatives, this is a very good university. It’s not over as yet – so I’m going to save the rest of my reflections when I’m just about to graduate.

Right now, I’m just worried about two things – the final tomorrow for CS210 and moving out of my room in Thumb Butte. Over summer A I’m going to be staying at Hall 9. But summer’s going to be a challenge. I have not only a lot to study for (3 courses) but Chartwells is going to be close all May. They have the small tuck shop (Outtakes) open – but it’s not the same. I get about a week before summer A starts. It starts on May 6^th and ends on June 21^st.

I would be lying if I told you that I’m not scared of any of my finals. The truth is that I’m scared about Solids, Fluids, Dynamics, Linear Circuits 2 and my Tech Final Paper. That’s all my courses except Discrete Structures, but my lack of fear for that course is understandable, since I was allowed to skip the final.

This week seems extremely long. I don’t think I’ve ever been this scared of finals before. The only reason why I am scared is because the syllabus for each course is huge – there’s so much new knowledge that I need to remember in such a short period of time. My planned plan of action then is to work out problems that underlie the primary concepts of each chapter. If I tried to solve each and every problem we’ve done in that class, I probably wouldn’t get too far. Let’s see if my plan works out.

I think this is the first time I’ve ever wanted a Friday so bad! The week was tiring and I really needed the weekend and surprisingly enough, it didn’t take too long to come!

We had an ISA Dinner at the Thai House which is quite interesting. I’m not too fond of Thai food. I’ve tried it many times at several places, but this place was different. It wasn’t like anything I’ve tasted before and it wasn’t bad! So, I guess there might just be a future for Thai food in me!

After that, all of us went to the see the movie Troy. I had heard about it, but the movie was awesome. It was well filmed and the roles were well played. It was so good that I began to hate the Greeks after the movie and Achilles too and was in support of the Trojans. I’ll probably have to get that movie on DVD – so that I can watch it over and over again! The whole day in general was a good break from the hectic week.

Once that was over, I headed out to Haas. We were setting up a haunted house for the kids and it was coming out pretty good. The guys had started working on it at noon and we were done by around five. It looked pretty amazing. We had dry ice in cauldrons and pots ­ it seemed as if though smoke was pouring out and there was a layer of smoke on the ground making it even more mystifying.

We didn’t scare too many people, partly because they were too young and we were told not to, but everyone liked the place and what we had done to it. I didn’t really dress up for Halloween, but it was fun watching everyone else masquerade around in their outfits. We had Vikings, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and a lot more costumes in the offing.

After some time, I decided to go out and check out the other haunted houses in M-300 and Hall 10, with Max. It’s getting pretty chilly here and going outside without a jacket is a very bad idea. The other haunted houses were pretty good too. M-300 had done a pretty good job. After we closed down our haunted house at 8:30, we went outside. Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) and the Board of Campus Activities (BCA) had called a band from LA to perform ­ the band was Sunset Fiction.

There were free burgers too. The music was pretty good, but it was so cold outside that I had to go back inside. After hanging around there all of us left to play the yearly ritual game called ‘Fugitive.’ The game is pretty simple. We divide ourselves into fugitives and hunters. The fugitives start off 2 miles from the courthouse and have to make it to the courthouse in 2 hours without getting caught by the hunters. They wear duct tape around their hands to be identified. The hunters can catch you by either flashing you with their spotlights or tagging you. The hunters have the added advantage of being able to drive around. All the fugitives can use is their legs.

Fugitive was a lot of fun. I was a fugitive. It was really cold, but I got over it after sometime. I was with two other guys. We found ourselves running through backyards and alleys trying to escape and make it. It took us about an hour and a half to get there. Once we were at the courtyard, we all made a dash for it. I got caught and so did one of the others, but the third made it. He was probably the only guy who made it. The game ended at midnight and then we all made our way back to campus.

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