I’M no daredevil. And, like you, I wasn’t born with wings. But I must admit, what I did was pretty ballsy. What did I do? I jumped out of a plane (of course, strapped to someone else who was qualified to do so) at 15,000 feet. No one dared me to do this, and no I didn’t have a death wish. I think it was a combination of turning 30 and wanting to mark this milestone; reading other people’s bucket lists and wanting to try something new.

On turning 30

By the end of 2022 I will be 30 years old (come to think of it, I am half Jamaica’s Independence age). For any woman, the big 3-0 is a significant milestone. For me, 30 seems ominous, the beginning of the end even. It’s that age when society starts asking you where is your spouse? Where are your children? Essentially, this is the age that you want to have it all together! Or at least the appearance of having it all together.

My mother at 30 and me at 30 are worlds apart. When my mother was 30 she was married, a housewife, and had two children. At 30 I am a young professional, unmarried and child-free/childless. Whether I am satisfied or regretful about the life choices that I have made to date that resulted in this is a candid conversation for another article, but I do know that I am not alone. There are many female high-achieving professionals who are ‘marriageable’ but who have endured single shaming and supposed societal devaluation.

This then begs the question: Why should we compromise when you have Jamaican women like Olympian Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce providing us with a template? She is 35 years old, a mother, a wife, and is undoubtedly at the top of the sprinting game. I am curious to know how the life trajectory of the modern Jamaican woman, when it comes to career, meaningful romantic relationships, finances, and child rearing, has changed when compared to that of their mothers and foremothers. Maybe this was my inspiration for taking the skydiving plunge.

Not allowing fear to take control

Growing up I never had a list of things that I wanted to do before I kicked the bucket. As I got older and got exposed, only then did I adopt the bucket list idea as my own. When drafting my own bucket list I read other people’s, mostly blogs, to be honest. Skydiving kept repeatedly coming up as a must-try activity. I am curious to know how many Jamaicans have considered skydiving as a must-try bucket list item? After having my skydiving experience, I believe that you should draft your own bucket list. Sure you can find inspiration from other people’s lists, but your list should be personalised to you and not an compilation of internet fads.

The actual experience

Watching YouTube videos of other people’s skydiving experience could never compare to the real thing. Before going up in the air, we went through a drill of all the manoeuvres that we should do once we were ready to jump out of the plane. Safety drill over, we all boarded this three-wheeled plane for a 12-minute flight. Cruising at altitude 15,000 feet, one by one we all exited the plane. I was strapped to an instructor who weighed less than me, and was shorter than me, but thankfully he was very experienced. When it was our turn to jump out of the plane, I turned sideways and froze. I was like, wait, am I expected to jump out of this thing? There was no turning back now. The instructor held my head back and arched my back, and we leaned out of the plane sideways, and as gravity would have it, down we went. Even as I write this now I can recall the experience so vividly. The air at 15,000 feet is quite cold, and so for three to five minutes we were in chilly free fall. Free fall is indescribable. It felt like having a really big metal fan blowing cold air into my mouth and nostrils. It felt like my ear drums were about to burst. It was not until we got to 5000 feet and the instructor pulled the parachute that we slowed down and we started to glide. Only at 5000 feet was I able to appreciate the beautiful scenery, and only then did I begin to feel like I was flying. When my foot was back on the ground I was in disbelief. Would I skydive again? No, once is enough. The thrill of it all though was worth it.

Gratitude is a must

I am grateful that I was able to do skydiving to celebrate my milestone birthday. Though it was unconventional, I was happy that I did it because for me it was a litmus test to see whether I could override my fears. And to be able to celebrate the triumph at the end was so worth it. On reflection, my 20s were dotted with periods of self-restraint, always colouring inside the lines. For me skydiving was transformative, in that I was able to upgrade my mental toolkit and prove myself to myself. With skydiving I was somehow able to project outwardly an inward evolution/transformation that was taking place within myself. I am grateful that I get to enter my 30s. Subconsciously my skydiving experience could be a substitute for a wedding or a baby shower. Either way I am grateful that I was able to have such an emblematic experience. And with the experience of skydiving under my belt, I am excited about the début of my fourth decade alive and I am committed to defining this decade on my own terms.

And so, what’s next?

Ageing is a privilege which is guaranteed to none. Going forward, skydiving (or an activity akin to it) will become my personal gold standard for celebrating a milestone birthday. I will always take the approach of cementing the decade that has passed, and the one that is to come, by doing some symbolic activity. And though that activity might not be underwater shark cage diving or a commercial Virgin Galactic sub-space flight, it will be memorable and significant. Thirty doesn’t feel like a prison anymore, it feels like an opportunity in which I can deliberately make choices that will lead to my happily ever after.

Dr Nation is a practising physician, author, and 2018 Chevening scholar.