Staff member soars in the sky and on the ground

By Ashley Wiggin

Falling through the sky at up to 180 miles per hour may seem like a nightmare to some of us. But for Carolyn Chow, it is the perfect way to spend her free time.

Now a licensed skydiver and coach, Carolyn fell in love with the sport after her first skydiving experience in 2005 for a friend’s birthday.

“I was the most terrified person in the group before we left,” she said. “Once we hit the ground, I couldn’t wait to go skydiving again.”

                                                                                       Photo by Ryan Simpson

Carolyn, the school’s director of admissions and multicultural affairs, and her skydiving group recently competed in a competition that included seven intermediate and open class teams, the most advanced level of skydiving. Though Carolyn’s team was classified as intermediate, they still managed to take third place in the meet. “It is incredible to be competing with such world-class skydivers,” she said.

In the last few years, Carolyn’s love of skydiving has taken her to sites in California, Montana and Arizona. Last year, Carolyn served as vice president of the Seattle Skydivers and participated for the first time in the Shelton Leap for Lupus, raising money for lupus research. This year, she’s begun training with a competitive skydiving team in Lake Elsinore, Calif., to go to the United States Parachute Association Nationals competition in Texas in October. They call themselves Elsinore FLV.

“Skydiving is hard work that requires lots of concentration and skill,” Carolyn said. “It is truly a different kind of challenge, and the people I get fly with are really amazing, world-class competitors.  Being asked to jump with this team is an opportunity of a lifetime.”

A native of Warren, N.J., Carolyn was recruited to the UW to complete a master’s in speech communication after finishing her BA in communication at Rutgers University. While teaching courses as a master’s student, Carolyn realized that she would rather be advising students than teaching them. “I used to think that I wanted to be a professor,” she said. “But from my experiences as a minority student, it made me think that I could make more of an impact working directly with students on the administrative level.”

In 1999, Carolyn joined the School of Nursing as the coordinator for recruitment and admissions, and has seen her job grow and develop alongside her interests. “My favorite part of my job is working with the students. I love to see the impact we as a school can have on their lives and the future of health care.”

In what remains of her free time, Carolyn also loves photography, video editing and filmmaking (she often records her jumps and creates videos with her team), playing the guitar and snowboarding. She lives with her cat, Athena, on Capitol Hill.

For more information on skydiving, please visit:

http://www.skydiveelsinore.com

or the Leap for Lupus: http://www.leapforlupus.com/indexIE.html