OC HIGH / STUDENT NEWS AND VIEWS : On Edge : BUNGEE-JUMPING : What’s it like to take it to the max? To plummet to earth in a parachute or on a bungee cord? To hang suspended from a glider? Here is what students who participate in such “daredevil” activities have to say about their experiences.

Josh Gensicke bungee-jumps because of the powerful feelings it generates.

“The adrenaline rush is just awesome, and the jolt (when the elastic pulls the jumper back) and the shock give me a total rush,” said the sophomore st Sunny Hills High.

Gensicke describes flying through the air at 50 m.p.h. as “incredible.” Part of the feeling is the “rush” and the other part is fear.

“No matter how many times you (bungee-jump), the ride up and the first two minutes are always scary,” Gensicke said. “It’s especially scary when you’re going up and you look down.”

Gensicke admits there is a truly scary and dangerous side to this sport.

He described one time when, at the end of his fall, he heard a ripping sound.

“I thought the elastic was ripping,” he recalled. “I thought I was going to die. But it was only my shirt, which had caught in the straps.”

Seung Yi is a junior at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton. This article first appeared in the school paper, The Accolade.