Students take interest in skydiving

By Jaclyn Miklos | gargoyle@flagler.edu
Photo by Lindsay Widdell

Flagler College Senior Kory Duffy faced fear head-on, jumping out of a plane at 14,000 feet plummeting toward Earth.

“Skydiving is unbelievable,” Duffy said. “There are no other words to describe it. I think every college student should experience this while their young.”

Duffy and his sister, Kara Duffy, a Flagler freshman, drove to DeLand to experience the feeling of a freefall. Kara Duffy said the facility in Deland offers much more than just jumping out of a plane.

“After I jumped my whole family headed to the lounge for beer and hamburgers,” she said. “We got there at 8 a.m. and stayed until 3 p.m.”

Kory Duffy was impressed at how SkyDive DeLand photographs and videos divers’ freefalls.

“The photographer hangs out of the plane before you even jump out of the plane,” he said. “He waits for you to fall and then somehow catches up to you, and even swings you around to make you spin in the air.”

Michael Strasburger, a Flagler junior, has skydived twice.

“Everyone just has to do it,” he said. “I wish I could go every weekend. It is a feeling that you can’t describe and I recommend it to every student.”

PJ Jackson, one of the photographers at SkyDive DeLand, has taken skydiving to the next level and developed a career out the sport.

“I jump as often as I can, an average of five a day,” Jackson said. “I started jumping when I was 18 and now I’m 31. I love to jump for myself by trying to improve at each jump. When I jump with students it’s really cool, I can tell how excited they are. It’s definitely a thing a lot of college students do.”