The Phantom Shadow entertainment company brought the Zero Shock freefall stunt jump, measuring 25 feet high, to campus on Thursday, Sept. 25, and was set up and ready for its first jumper at noon.
“My heart was beating really fast. When I got off I was kind of confused,” Anna Roper, a junior sports marketing major, said. Even though she didn’t want to be the first jumper, it worked out that way. “It was fun. I saw it and was all about it,” she breathlessly said afterward. Roper is part of the Rams volleyball team and says “the Zero Shock could broaden perspective for students.” She was all smiles and expressed thanks to the Program Board for bringing the event to campus.
Shayla Evans, a Rams cheerleader, was standing in line watching the jumpers ahead of her. “My friend made me do it,” she said. Evans then pointed out her fellow grinning student as the culprit. Evans identified her as Martina Adams. “I’m just dragging her along,” said Adams
“I’m not gonna jump,” said Kelsey Emery, a sophomore nursing student. The Sigma Sigma Sigma member had been standing in the midway for a couple of hours because it was funny to watch. The thing she found most amusing were the jumpers who landed the wrong way. “People that land on their feet tumble all over the place,” she said.
“My nerves are high, doing it backwards,” said Matthew Mock. The first time he jumped, he said he kneed himself in the face. Mock, a junior sports/event management major, said that peer pressure was the reason he jumped backward. “Before I jumped I thought ‘It’s not gonna be too bad’,” he said. He then added, “but up there it’s zoomed in! You just brave up and do it.”
“It was a thrill. I did the smaller one and thought ‘THAT was even scary.’ It took me awhile but I finally got the guts to do the big one.” Chelsea Brown, a senior business management major, said. Brown didn’t think it looked high until she climbed to the platform. “I can see how some people would be scared. Just making the jump is taking a chance. Some things are harder to do than they look,” she said as she looked at the jumper perched above the landing mat. She added that it was a lot of fun.
The Shepherd University Program Board coordinated the event. The day prior to the jump on the midway, Rachael Meads expressed excitement and hoped that the attraction’s result could translate into other areas of students’ lives. She wondered if and how the jump may translate into helping individuals face fears and overcome obstacles.
For more information on the Zero Shock go to www.phantomshadow.com