"We're going to fly two and a half miles up and throw you out of an airplane," the cameraman said to first-year College student Jessie Shields as she prepared for her first skydive.
Shields grew up near West Point Airport on the York River -- you can see the skydivers from her house.
She's from a pretty rural area where it takes 30 minutes to get to the nearest mall or movie theater. But the little town of West Point, with its two stoplights, offers a once-in-a-lifetime thrill.
Leaping out of an airplane at 14,000 feet may seem daunting, but all of Shields' older cousins had jumped several times -- it seemed to be a part of family life.
Shields' house overlooks the York River and the family has had to rescue stray skydivers on several occasions. But even seeing the risks in her own backyard did not deter her.
"You just take the chance, I guess," Shields said. "It's just one out of thousands" of jumps.
A month after she turned 18 years old, on the first available weekend, Shields headed to West Point Airport with her mother, her sister-in-law and her three-time jumper cousin, Andy.
West Point Skydiving Adventures, the group Shields jumped with, offers a lot to the first time skydiver, she said. By jumping in tandem -- that is, attached to a certified jumper -- skydivers make their first experience less frightening.
The current rate for a jump is about $219 for each person, single or in a small group. After signing several legal papers, jumpers going tandem are trained for about 30 minutes in how and when to pull the rip cord, where the safety chute is and the positions to take from the initial leap from the plane to the landing on the ground.
Though skydivers come in all shapes and sizes, most are fairly young. West Point's Web site, however, boasts a 93-year-old jumper.
The plane ride takes 15 minutes, the free fall takes 30 seconds and the fall is five to 10 minutes when the chute is pulled.
To be certified and be able to make repeated jumps is both complicated and expensive. Though requirements differ for each skydiving company, at West Point a series of 20 jumps completes the training program and 25 more jumps are required for the license.
Shields said she is considering working at West Point in the summer, learning to pack chutes. She will earn money and get more chances to jump that way.
"I would love to make [skydiving] a weekend thing, but it's really expensive," Shields said.
In jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt on the big day, Shields was too excited to feel the chill. In her hot pink jumpsuit, goggles and gloves, she watched everyone else jump out of the plane first. Her cousin Andy, a skydiving regular, went out backwards to alleviate his fear of heights.
Shields and Kevin, her tandem instructor, and the cameraman were the last to jump out of the plane. Kevin, attached to her back, kept everything in perspective as the cameraman joked and teased.
An altimeter on Shields's wrist kept track of their distance from the ground, reading 14,000 feet as they approached the door.
Shields walked slowly to the edge of the plane, holding on to the silver bar. Together, they counted to three and quickly flipped out of the plane, diving head first.
"My cheeks were flapping around and my eyes were watering," Shields said. "My face was numb."
The cameraman twirled them around, shooting video for the DVD Shields had requested.
With the green trees of Virginia, a stretch of the York River and her own house at her feet, Shields "couldn't stop smiling."
In the video, her face ripples, her tongue is stuck out at the camera and the rainbow chute glows.
"The wind rushing past your ears is so loud when you're in free fall," Shields said. "Then, when the parachute is pulled, you're floating and it's suddenly silent and scary."
Going tandem comforted Shields because Kevin was the one who did the "butt-skidding" landing.
"It's the best thrill in your life and when you're on the ground and you know you're safe, you want to do it again," Shields said.
Shields' message to those considering a jump is simple: The risks are worth it.
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