FOLLOWING UP WITH CHRISTIE MUNN

In 2014, we interviewed Christie Munn who had just become a licensed skydiver. Two years on, Christie’s skydiving journey has blossomed. We catch up with Christie and see where she is today.

THE LAST TIME WE ‘SPOKE’ ONE OF YOUR GOALS WAS TO EVENTUALLY OWN YOUR OWN RIG. BEING THAT YOU’VE JUST EARNED YOUR COACH RATING, I’M GUESSING YOU NOW HAVE A RIG? WHEN DID YOU GET IT, WHAT KIND DO YOU HAVE AND TELL US ABOUT GETTING YOUR COACH RATING? THIS WASN’T ON YOUR RADAR TWO YEARS AGO!

I got my own rig in 2014, a Spectre 170 that has more jumps at the drop zone than I do! I bought the rig from Laura, a fellow jumper at the drop zone. She is a fantastic jumper that helped me with my Coach rating. I’m most excited about being involved in helping others get their licenses,!

WE WERE FASCINATED WITH YOUR JOB AS YOU WERE VERY INVOLVED WITH WORKING WITH STEM CELLS. ANY NEW DEVELOPMENTS SINCE THEN?

I’m still at the same company, though my job has changed slightly through the years. I am no longer involved in automation of cell culture. I am now working on prototypes, differentiating new cells types from stem cells to end product. It is super frustrating and fascinating all at the same time.

YOU GRADUATED FROM HAWAII PACIFIC UNIVERSITY IN HONOLULU; WHAT WAS THAT LIKE? I’M SURE MANY PEOPLE WOULDN’T MIND GOING TO UNIVERSITY IN HAWAII! DO YOU MISS IT AND DO YOU HAVE THE DESIRE TO EVENTUALLY GO BACK THERE TO LIVE?

I LOVED Hawaii!! Most people would say duh, but not everyone I met in Hawaii adjusted to the island lifestyle. You wouldn’t think a small town girl from Orfordville WI would adapt to the island, but from the culture to the music and food, I loved every bit of it. To this day I still enjoy spam and rice and have cravings for musubi’s, chicken katsu, and don’t even get me started on the macaroni salad!!

NOW THAT YOU HAVE A COACH RATING, DO YOU HAVE ANY NEW SKYDIVING GOALS YOU’D LIKE TO ACHIEVE?

I want to keep learning and expanding on my skill set. I have been blessed to find a family at WSC, some of the best people I have ever met. They are always willing to help me with an exit or dive flow, and watch videos of my jumps and give me ways to improve. I would like to learn more camera skills and how knows maybe AFF one day.

ONE OF YOUR GOALS IS TO BE PUBLISHED IN A SCIENTIFIC JOURNAL. UPDATE US ON THAT GOAL? IS IT STILL SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE TO DO?

I have yet to be published, but I am a co-author of a patent. It’s not official yet, the review process is ridiculous, but by the end of the year, it should be official!

YOU SPEND A LOT OF YOUR WEEKENDS AT WSC EITHER WORKING OR JUMPING EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE A FULL SCHEDULE DURING THE WEEK. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT SKYDIVING AND THE WSC COMMUNITY?

As I said earlier WSC is a family with amazing people, who wouldn’t want to spend time with them! I’m there every weekend because I enjoy them and skydiving. Skydiving is pure, you have a dive flow and 55 odd seconds to complete it, you’re not thinking about troubles at work or what’s for dinner, everything is laser focused on the here and now.

SINCE WE LAST CAUGHT UP WITH YOU TWO YEARS AGO, WHAT’S THE LATEST UPDATE WITH CHRISTIE? CATCH US UP!

In the two years since we talked not a lot has changed. I was transferred to California for the summer of 2014. I was able to go visit with my cousin Kelli, she was a huge reason behind me getting into the sport. I jumped with her husband Andrew (Kelli had shoulder injuries from the wind tunnel and couldn’t jump) and learned a lot from our jumps together. Last year I traveled to Thailand, Paris, and London and it was awesome! Hope to be able to do more traveling in the future! That brings us to this year and my coach rating; I plan to do as much jumping as I can until the end of the season.