On the 25th of May, alongside my fundraising team of the MGC House Manutaki (Olive Paterson, Ayla Shaw, and Mya Blackmore) and my Whānau Tutor (Mrs Morgan), we participated in the 2024 Drop for Youth.

As a Manutaki team, the girls and I had been fundraising for over a month and raised $4,382.55 in total - almost $400 over our original goal! Mrs Morgan raised $1050. The money we raised went towards the Graeme Dingle Foundation, who support the youth within Marlborough, including students of MGC.

Before I jumped, my guide told me that this was his second day and that if all went well my parachute was yellow. This did not reassure my nerves at all. It was challenging to describe what the exact feeling of jumping out of a plane was like to my family, I couldn’t put it into words. But after processing it for a few days, it felt more like flying than falling. 

The first 3 seconds were the scariest. I had to jump out of the plane first, and all I remember is the door opening, the wind hitting my face, looking at Mya, and then falling forward. It felt like you were face-planting but going through the ground. 

Free falling for 30 seconds was probably the coolest part, having my arms in the air like those inflatable men you see on the side of the road. Falling through the cloud, I could feel little specs of water hitting my face. Once my parachute was out, I could look across the whole of Motueka and Rabbit Island. This is when my guide Steve reassured me that he had 24 years of experience doing tandem skydives. 

While floating down, I still felt sick, my stomach was doing thousands of flips and the biggest thing that I had to remember was to breathe. Before the jump, I was told I should think of some songs to sing while falling, but once I was in the moment I was truly speechless. I was 100% out of my comfort zone, and this is something that I would recommend to all students to give a go within the youth of Marlborough, as you are supporting your peers, younger individuals, and even yourself. 

 It goes without saying that the awareness created by Drop for Youth and the funds that are raised support a great cause, and prove just how committed people are to making a difference.

Written by Hazel Glover