Amer Sehmi from Oaks Park High School in East London is definitely a budding adventurist. After climbing to the summit of Mt. Kenya in July of this year, she decided that a skydive was on the cards. On Saturday 27th October, she did just that.
   Jumping from 15,000 ft (the legal limit for the UK) on your first skydive is no small feat, especially at 17. However, fear isn’t something Amer appears to worry about, and rather enjoyed every second of it. When asked how it felt, she plainly and honestly answered “It felt amazing. It didn’t feel like I was falling, just really windy. I couldn’t see the ground getting closer. When I looked out of the plane, it looked more like a picture than a real landscape. I felt like Mary Poppins jumping into the pavement chalk drawings.”
   She was the first of that plane-load of thrill seekers to do a tandem jump, with about 8 individual people jumping before her, racing each other for fun. Amer however, was not just falling for the adrenaline rush. She had managed to raise over £720 for the Nishkam Civic Association in order to help projects in Kericho, Kenya. “My Dad spent time there’” said Miss Sehmi. “He helped to set up IT connections, enabling them to be educated and this really inspired me to get involved and raise some funds for these important projects.” With the help of the Oaks Park Sixth form prefect team and several of the teachers, a lot of students were able to contribute to help this cause. The final total was well over her original target of £600, and will be of invaluable benefit for the charity projects. Before this, when she visited Kenya, she raised a staggering £3680 for her trip, with much of that going towards community and environmental projects whilst she was out there.
   When asked if she would ever want to do that again, she replied “definitely. It was such a great experience and I would recommend anyone to try it.” You can access the video of her skydive on Youtube, along with videos from other fund-raising thrill seekers.