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A new club wants you to take a flying leap. The Skydive Club is looking for members who have already skydived and can’t wait to jump out of more perfectly good planes.
Jeff Kauffman, 21, business major, is co-founder of the club and has made 33 jumps. He says the excitement of jumping outweighs any fear.
“You are nervous the first time, and the second time,” said Kauffman,” but if you realize that nervousness is just adrenaline, you can use it to your advantage.”
Kauffman and fellow founder Robert Moreno, 23, Business CIS, were recruiting in the pit, but had limited success.
“People aren’t saying they’re scared, they’re saying they’re interested,”Moreno said, “but since you have to have one jump under your belt, not a lot of people are joining yet.”
Kauffman wants everyone to understand that skydiving is no more dangerous than any other extreme sport.
“People are somewhat afraid of there being some kind of impact, but that happens very rarely,” Kauffman said.
Kauffman and Moreno, jump with Skydive Dallas, the only skydive academy in Texas.
Joe Rekart, general manager of Skydive Dallas, wants everyone to know how safe and fun this sport is.
“Skydiving nationwide is a very safe sport. It’s comparable to rock climbing or surfing,” Rekart said. “All of our drop specialists have over 2,000 jumps so we’ve been pretty safe so far.”
It costs about $200 per jump, but apart from that, a valid ID, athletic shoes, and a bit of bravado is all you need to bring.
Moreno who passed AFF Level 3 on his last jump says if money isn’t the issue then everyone with a healthy heart should jump out of planes.
“I love the feel of being weightless almost and floating,” says Moreno. “If you do it once, you will definitely do it again.” | 
