Will ADCOMs find skydiving unique, or will they question my risk-taking behavior?

[fxryker]

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Experience Description:

"I am a B-licensed skydiver by the United States Parachute Association, which allows me to jump solo from planes, helicopters, and hot air balloons. I can also perform both high altitude low opening jumps and night jumps. For hours, I am accounting for the amount of time spent off the ground, which includes the ride to altitude, the skydive itself, and landing. This is approximately fifteen minutes. This gap year, I plan for one-hundred more jumps, as well as earning both my coach rating and C license. This will allow me to wear a camera, earn my instructor rating, and pursue wingsuit flying."

Meaningful Experience Description:

"It seems oxymoronic, but skydiving is an amazing stress reliever. I exit the plane at thirteen-thousand five-hundred feet, and fall towards the earth at one-hundred twenty miles per hour. I deploy my pilot chute sixty seconds later, thereby opening my main canopy, and land safely. Formation skydiving takes this a step further, because my teammates and I will exit the plane together. During the skydive, we will perform pre-coordinated maneuvers such as docking, which is where we grab onto each other to build patterns. For this to be successful, I must stay calm and collected, because panicking becomes life-threatening. In this respect, skydiving is a lot like medicine. During a code, nothing else matters, and you must perform as a team under limited time. If something goes wrong, we fall back on our training. Not to mention, both skydiving and working in the emergency room possess a humbling relationship with mortality. They are attestments to our desire to protect ourselves and others. This perspective has helped me immensely in actualizing my role as a healthcare provider, and will continue to do so as I further my career."

 

[chilly_md]

Experience Description:

"I am a B-licensed skydiver by the United States Parachute Association, which allows me to jump solo from planes, helicopters, and hot air balloons. I can also perform both high altitude low opening jumps and night jumps. For hours, I am accounting for the amount of time spent off the ground, which includes the ride to altitude, the skydive itself, and landing. This is approximately fifteen minutes. This gap year, I plan for one-hundred more jumps, as well as earning both my coach rating and C license. This will allow me to wear a camera, earn my instructor rating, and pursue wingsuit flying."

Meaningful Experience Description:

"It seems oxymoronic, but skydiving is an amazing stress reliever. I exit the plane at thirteen-thousand five-hundred feet, and fall towards the earth at one-hundred twenty miles per hour. I deploy my pilot chute sixty seconds later, thereby opening my main canopy, and land safely. Formation skydiving takes this a step further, because my teammates and I will exit the plane together. During the skydive, we will perform pre-coordinated maneuvers such as docking, which is where we grab onto each other to build patterns. For this to be successful, I must stay calm and collected, because panicking becomes life-threatening. In this respect, skydiving is a lot like medicine. During a code, nothing else matters, and you must perform as a team under limited time. If something goes wrong, we fall back on our training. Not to mention, both skydiving and working in the emergency room possess a humbling relationship with mortality. They are attestments to our desire to protect ourselves and others. This perspective has helped me immensely in actualizing my role as a healthcare provider, and will continue to do so as I further my career."

I am not a fan of turning this activity back to medicine.

 

[cj_cregg]

I think this is a cool and unique hobby, I don't think anyone will question your character or anything because of it. Agree that you don't need to connect it back to medicine in your description - it is okay, and even desirable, to have things in your life that you just enjoy and have nothing to do with medicine! That is the stuff that will keep you sane on the tough days.

 

[candbgirl]

I think this is a cool and unique hobby, I don't think anyone will question your character or anything because of it. Agree that you don't need to connect it back to medicine in your description - it is okay, and even desirable, to have things in your life that you just enjoy and have nothing to do with medicine! That is the stuff that will keep you sane on the tough days.

This. ^^^
Skydiving is interesting and challenging in itself. Don’t connect/compare it to running a code. Your first sentence is why you do skydiving and why it’s good for you.

 

[Med Ed]

Agree with the others, you're trying to make your hobby work way too hard. Leave something to the imagination.

Also, an oxymoron typically consists of just two words that appear contradictory when juxtaposed (like "clearly confused"). The term "counterintuitive" would be better.

 

[GoSpursGo]

Absolutely should not be a most meaningful. Cool as a hobby, but there's no way you're going to convince me that skydiving had anything to do with you going into medicine

 

[allseasons]

"It seems oxymoronic, but skydiving is an amazing stress reliever. I exit the plane at thirteen-thousand five-hundred feet, and fall towards the earth at one-hundred twenty miles per hour. I deploy my pilot chute sixty seconds later, thereby opening my main canopy, and land safely. Formation skydiving takes this a step further, because my teammates and I will exit the plane together. During the skydive, we will perform pre-coordinated maneuvers such as docking, which is where we grab onto each other to build patterns. For this to be successful, I must stay calm and collected, because panicking becomes life-threatening. Safety is paramount and you must perform as a team under limited time. If something goes wrong, we fall back on our training."

Agreed with the others above, with the above edits to your second paragraph.

 

[Catalystik]

Will ADCOMs a) find skydiving unique, or b) will they question my risk-taking behavior?

b) of the above. But then, I have a past-skydiving relative who has survived two midair accidents (main parachute failure and a midair collision) and also a jump-line incident resulting in a permanent disability.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

AMCAS guidelines:

When writing your response, you might want to consider the transformative nature of the experience, the impact you made while engaging in the activity, and the personal growth you experienced as a result of your participation.

Does your MME address the guidelines? Not sure.

 

[Goro]

Absolutely should not be a most meaningful. Cool as a hobby, but there's no way you're going to convince me that skydiving had anything to do with you going into medicine

Agree 100%

 

[LindaAccepted]

Experience Description:

"I am a B-licensed skydiver by the United States Parachute Association, which allows me to jump solo from planes, helicopters, and hot air balloons. I can also perform both high altitude low opening jumps and night jumps. For hours, I am accounting for the amount of time spent off the ground, which includes the ride to altitude, the skydive itself, and landing. This is approximately fifteen minutes. This gap year, I plan for one-hundred more jumps, as well as earning both my coach rating and C license. This will allow me to wear a camera, earn my instructor rating, and pursue wingsuit flying."

Meaningful Experience Description:

"It seems oxymoronic, but skydiving is an amazing stress reliever. I exit the plane at thirteen-thousand five-hundred feet, and fall towards the earth at one-hundred twenty miles per hour. I deploy my pilot chute sixty seconds later, thereby opening my main canopy, and land safely. Formation skydiving takes this a step further, because my teammates and I will exit the plane together. During the skydive, we will perform pre-coordinated maneuvers such as docking, which is where we grab onto each other to build patterns. For this to be successful, I must stay calm and collected, because panicking becomes life-threatening. In this respect, skydiving is a lot like medicine. During a code, nothing else matters, and you must perform as a team under limited time. If something goes wrong, we fall back on our training. Not to mention, both skydiving and working in the emergency room possess a humbling relationship with mortality. They are attestments to our desire to protect

Experience Description:

"I am a B-licensed skydiver by the United States Parachute Association, which allows me to jump solo from planes, helicopters, and hot air balloons. I can also perform both high altitude low opening jumps and night jumps. For hours, I am accounting for the amount of time spent off the ground, which includes the ride to altitude, the skydive itself, and landing. This is approximately fifteen minutes. This gap year, I plan for one-hundred more jumps, as well as earning both my coach rating and C license. This will allow me to wear a camera, earn my instructor rating, and pursue wingsuit flying."

Meaningful Experience Description:

"It seems oxymoronic, but skydiving is an amazing stress reliever. I exit the plane at thirteen-thousand five-hundred feet, and fall towards the earth at one-hundred twenty miles per hour. I deploy my pilot chute sixty seconds later, thereby opening my main canopy, and land safely. Formation skydiving takes this a step further, because my teammates and I will exit the plane together. During the skydive, we will perform pre-coordinated maneuvers such as docking, which is where we grab onto each other to build patterns. For this to be successful, I must stay calm and collected, because panicking becomes life-threatening. In this respect, skydiving is a lot like medicine. During a code, nothing else matters, and you must perform as a team under limited time. If something goes wrong, we fall back on our training. Not to mention, both skydiving and working in the emergency room possess a humbling relationship with mortality. They are attestments to our desire to protect ourselves and others. This perspective has helped me immensely in actualizing my role as a healthcare provider, and will continue to do so as I further my career."

It's valuable (and distinctive and valuable) to include as an activity. I agree with the others and would not recommend it as a most meaningful experience.