Taking the Leap
By Aditya Rapaka
“We’re almost there!” my mom yells. I’m super excited because I’m going ziplining in Kualoa Ranch in Hawaii! But when we get there, I start to get more and more scared. When I get to the top of the practice tower, I am nauseous and I don’t want to go. My eight-year-old sister has already jumped and is ziplining smoothly. The tower is only 20 feet high and I knew I would be safe in the snug harness, so why am I scared?
The first time I remember being scared of heights was when I was 4 years old. We went ziplining, but when I got to the top I refused to take the leap and bailed out. When I left Hawaii I was tired of sitting out on the sidelines and I decided to finally confront my acrophobia.
One step in conquering my fear of heights was actually asking my family to help me, and of course they readily agreed. They decided to take me on a rope course. Rope courses are really difficult for me because I have to go up on a tree, swaying on a bridge, 50 feet off the ground. The worst part is that once you start the course, you can’t go back. So before we even got there I was sweating in my seat. When I arrived my fears were confirmed. When I saw that zip lines were littered on every corner of the rope course I was ready to run. My sister, sensing my fear, turned to me and told me that I was going to be ok and that she knew I was capable of completing the course. When she told me that, I was motivated to prove her right and complete the course. That was my turning point. My sister volunteered to go first and told me to go behind her. Once I got on I realized what I had been missing out on by staying on the ground. I didn’t want to stop and it felt so good to finish at the end. When I finished, I vomited but I was so proud of myself for doing it.
The book about my life will be called “Taking the Leap” because this story started when I didn’t take one in Hawaii. But when I did, it changed my life. I realized that every time I took a risk and stepped out of my comfort zone I benefited from it. I am still in my early stages in my life so I will have to make many leaps and take many risks in my life. When I visited Bellarmine, I was talking to a student who used a new machine in the lab for the first time, he and his team were carving the word “Bellarmine” into a piece of metal, and he showed me how the letters didn’t come out right, but the students eventually got better at using it. They took risks and worked together to figure it out. At the speech and debate team table I spoke to a student who told me how the debate team works as a whole and the point of debate isn’t my speech or your speech, it’s about making everyone’s speech as good as possible. This is a community I want to be a part of. One that takes leaps. Now I am open to new opportunities, such as rappelling with my friends and definitely, going on zipline adventures with my family. I am not saying I am not scared. But I have taken steps forward and I’m not quitting this journey.
