Before I unset the brakes, I practiced making turns with my rear risers. The turns seemed faster than when I used the toggles to turn. I made a couple of 90 degree turns, and unlocked the brakes and tried to use my rear risers to turn. It was much harder with my brakes unlocked. I checked my altitude and looked for the DZ. I did a couple of turns and then made my way to my 1,000 ft. point. 

Nick told me to begin my landing pattern. During my descent, he gave me a couple of instructions. I could see Nick and Gigi on the soccer field. I entered my final approach. As I passed over them, Nick said, "You're looking good. You're on your own."

On my own? Can I do this on my own? On my own? Is Nick done talking to me? I looked at my landing area. There was a small wooden stake sticking up out of the ground. I don't want to land on that! I looked around and discovered a second stake. I think these were construction markers. Why are there wooden stakes in my landing area? I didn't see them earlier! I should have looked more carefully! What if I land on one of them? I became fixated on the two wooden stakes.

Then, I broke one of the most important rules of skydiving - altitude awareness. The last time I looked at my altimeter I was at roughly 300 feet. When you enter the final approach, you are supposed to be in full flight. Your arms are straight up holding the toggles. When you're about 6 to 10 ft off the ground, you're supposed to bring the toggles down smoothly - this is called flaring.  I was focused on the construction stakes. 

Am I going to land on one of those stakes? I looked around and saw a spot that wasn't moving. What was that? Is there something wrong with my vision? I went back to fixating on the stakes. I'm going to hit one of them. I know I am! I didn't look at the tree line. I didn't try to determine my altitude. Instead, I panicked, and flared really fast and hard. 

Nick was yelling,"PLF! PLF! PLF!"