Nantahala- Freshman Trip

Nantahala. Freshman Year. 73 students. Giant Swing.



Imagine being suspended in the air, your friends pulling the rope that pulls you higher and higher into the air. Now, its all up to you. YOU are in charge of releasing the rope that is connecting you to the tower. When you let go, you will fall, straight down to the ground.
But then, all of a sudden you start rising up in the air again, swinging back and forth, back and forth. All of this adrenaline hits you. You are swinging high up in the air..... and then, the pain hits you. You don't realize it until you are no longer afraid of being swung in the air. You start thinking, "Were these harnesses this tight to begin with?" and "How much longer until i can take this harness off!!!" Why don't we start at the beginning now.


Here comes the truth. They first give you a harness and show you how to put it on. You don't quite realize how tight the harness is until you are in the air, and yes, for those of you thinking, "Oh it must not be that bad." Wait until you experience it. It's worse then it seems. After you are all harnessed up and ready to go, they give you a helmet and glasses to wear for protection. Now they tell you to stand on the ladder so that you can be hooked up to the GIANT SWING. They check to make sure that you put on your harness correctly, because you know that putting a bunch of freshman in charge of their own safety could be quite dangerous. After they make sure you will live after the swinging, they tie the rope that holds you in the air and YOUR OWN classmates are in charge of pulling you up high in the air. Now, as scary as the swing was, it may have been scarier having your friends lifting you in the air. The main part is letting go of yourself. I will just say that it was TERRIFYING. Your looking down at high how in the air you are in then you have to let yourself fall? What? Why would anyone want to do that? Those questioons are probably what you were thinking when your friends were doing the swing. I must say that as scary as it was, it was fun!

I think I should probably tell you the big part of this story. That the person who was experiencing and doing all of those things, even being suspended in the air, was me. I know, hard to believe, especially since I am afraid of heights. Although I was really freaked out, it was rewarding because I faced my fears. Now, climbing the tower is a WHOLE other story.