The sight of a roller coaster, even if it was just in a commercial, used to make me want to throw up. The few times I went to an amusement park before this past summer, my heart was always thumping as audibly as a frat's speaker system the second someone would bring up the idea of going on one.
The origin of this fear isn't completely clear, but it probably began during my first big time roller coaster experience. My mom took my brother and I to Cedar Point in Sandusky, OH when I was probably ten or eleven, and we hung out with some family friends from Michigan who were complete thrill seekers. I will never forget how eager they were to go on every single ride, and the way my stomach seemed to do fifty flips each time they asked me to tag along. It only took three rides (two of which were considered kids rides) for me to never want to go on a roller coaster again. Actually it probably only took one but they pretty much made me go on two more.
I was utterly terrified of any form of a cart on a track that wasn't a little scenic railroad tour, and I was pretty content with remaining that way for the remainder of my life.
But somehow I ended up in the line for The Whizzer (which is also considered a kids ride but that's an insignificant detail) with six of my friends encouraging me not to run for the parking lot at Six Flags Great America on a humid Monday last June.
We started small with The Whizzer, which I only went on because there were five year olds in front of me and if I bailed I would have felt as if I wasn't mature enough to go to college two months later. I survived. My hands were shaking uncontrollably, but I survived...and it was kind of fun.
With one ride under my belt, we started to work our way up the thrill scale in terms of intensity. Next, we went on The Demon which was my first corkscrew coaster. I was shocked at how much I actually enjoyed it. Who knew being flipped upside down while on a fast moving cart could do more than just make me want to give up my lunch? After that was The Viper, the tallest wooden coaster I'd ever been on, and that one wasn't as fun because I kept getting slammed into the side of the cart on every turn and the pain slightly sucked the fun out of it. But that's beside the point. I didn't cry. I didn't close my eyes the entire time (only for part of it...). I did it. It rocked.
A new sense of confidence washed over me...until my experienced coaster-riding friends decided that next, we should just go straight for the newest and arguably scariest ride in the whole park: X Flight.
We had waited probably a little over a half hour in line, and the entire time I couldn't stop wondering what the hell I was doing.
I'm gonna die. Why am I doing this? How did I even let them take me here? Yea, sure I can do a few smaller rides but this thing is fricking intense! I don't think I can do this. OH MY GOD WHAT AM I DOING?!
Now I forgot to mention that I was with five guys and one other girl besides myself. Of course the majority of them thought it was pretty hysterical how terrified I was, but they seemed genuinely concerned when they saw the look on my face as I finally sat down. The boys kept telling me I could do it, and I didn't want to be "that girl" who's just a total wimp and needs the sympathy of the guys so I did it. And I'm so thankful that I did (especially because after that, I was brave enough to go on Superman and that ride flipping rocks).
Forgive me for being so dramatic, but I swear I was a different person when I got off that roller coaster. I couldn't remember the last time I had felt that much of a rush, and it was an even more powerful sensation knowing that I had officially gotten over a fear that had been such a big part of my life until that point. I mean I'm eighteen years old, and the fact that I had been missing out on this for so many years actually made me sort of mad!
Regardless, I was ecstatic. I went on every single roller coaster except one (only because we ran out of time and had to get on the road) and somewhat sadly, it felt like my biggest accomplishment of the summer.
I don't know about you, but college has been all about fears for me. Leaving behind all that you know so well and making a life for yourself in a completely new place is scary, and so is making completely new friends and learning to live on your own without your Mom to be your alarm clock/chef/laundromat/personal psychologist. But it feels so good once you get the hang of it. So why not conquer another fear while you're at it?
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