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Literally making the biggest jump of my life
Tomorrow I am going skydiving. Seriously -- tomorrow I am going skydiving. I am jumping out of perfectly good working plane 14,000 feet up in the air, and free falling for a good minute and a half. Only to be saved by a sheet of fabric just a little thicker than my bed sheet. The thought of putting my feet close to an open door, and then making the plunge gives me goose bumps and butterflies in my stomach as I speak.
A good friend of mine organized about a group of 50 to go skydiving tomorrow, with the company Skydive Orange. This is just one of the amazing things you can do here in the Valley.
click to enlarge
JMU is a great campus and you can enjoy your time here honestly without really ever leaving the town of Harrisonburg, but the beauty is you don't have to just stay here, there is so much more to do. The Shenandoah National Park is a just a short drive away, and the George Washington National Forest is an even shorter one. Camping is always a popular activity out here, and even if you don't have your own equipment you can borrow equipment from UREC (University Recreation) for free, with just a small refundable deposit. And of course there are the 'extreme' sports like skiing and snow boarding at the extremely nearby ski resort Massanutten. Mountain biking wherever you want, Harrisonburg area is known as having some of the best mountain biking around, and or course SKYDIVING!
Also being a geography major and environmental science minor, nature is something that I have really come to appreciate and enjoy. There is nothing better than taking a class where I can apply what I learn to the very community which I live in. For example right now in GEOG 468, Internet GIS, I am working with a team on making an interactive internet map on several bike trails in the George Washington National Forest. We are working very closely with Shenandoah Mountain Bike Club making sure we include all the trails available, their details, and any corresponding information that any user may deem useful. It's been a very interesting project. It has also made me realize that if I want to work in such a computer-reliant field such as GIS I really need to learn computer programming. You really don't realize how much you need to know until you're waste deep in a project such as making an interactive website.
Well next time I talk to you all I'll have traveled 14,000 feet up and then 14,000 ft. back down. See you on the ground.
Posted by Simeon on April 15, 2005 03:37 PM | Link | Email Simeon
