CSU professor flying high at 40

CHARLESTON, SC – May 8, 2012 – Professor Kimberly Sims looks more like a student than an assistant professor at Charleston Southern. With her petite physique and soft, red curls she blends right in with her students, which is a pretty good trick considering she recently turned 40. To celebrate the monumental day, this soft-spoken, English professor made plans to go skydiving.

Even as a child, skydiving was a dream of hers. A large, open field behind her house was a magnet for parachutists. She was fascinated, watching them swing in the air and land with a thump, and Sims, normally shy, would race outside to greet them. Since then, she has always wanted to skydive and even convinced her stepfather that he wanted to one day skydive with her.

But her dreams blurred when she was 11 years old and was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes.

A mother’s gift
Sims’ mother, Gayla Raines, was a nurse and knew what lay ahead for her daughter. “I had someone there who knew what I was going through, who was able to teach me and taught me the discipline of nutrition,” remembers Sims.

And so began a regimen of training, education, instructions, shots, diet – it was a heavy lifestyle change, especially for an 11 year old.

Raines, with her strong mix of German and Irish blood, did not want diabetes to restrict her daughter’s dreams. From that time on, she coaxed her daughter to be as active as she wanted to be. “My mother let me do whatever I wanted to do. She never told me, “‘You can’t do this or that because you have diabetes,”’ she said, “I can’t tell you how thankful I am for that because my life could be so different right now.”

Swimming lessons, softball and a hot air balloon ride were some of Sims’ milder pursuits. At one point, she and her mother decided to join a clogging troupe and for some time performed at The Grand Ole Opry every summer.

The more daring quests were the times she spent with her three male cousins trying to figure out ways to fly. One such technique was to lie on their bellies on a skateboard, paddle the ground to pick up speed on the driveway and then soar over a barbed wire fence. Sims claims they were successful…sometimes.

She continued discovering who she was when she entered Kennesaw State University and earned her BA degree. She went on to get her MA from George Mason University and her PhD from the University of Rhode Island. She also spent a year studying in England.

Meanwhile her mother began to rediscover who she was when she retired from nursing after 27 years. What she discovered was that she didn’t want to be retired and landed a job as a school bus driver. “I never imagined she would be a school bus driver. She loved it…and the kids loved her,” laughs Sims. Raines continued to drive a school bus until her second retirement a year ago.

Taking flight
Finally, the long awaited day arrived, and on March 17, Sims took flight. With her mother, stepfather and friends watching, Sims and her tandem jumper boarded the plane and soared toward the sun.

After flipping out of the plane, she saw the ground rising quickly toward her. The tandem jumper suddenly pulled open the parachute, and they both jerked upward, knocking the breath out of her. Then they began to drift, almost hanging in the air and enjoying the spectacular view. “I really felt like I was flying,” said Sims. “It was great!”

Too soon, they stretched out their legs to land, sliding on the wet field in Walterboro.

Sims has photos and a DVD to remind her of the day she flew. But she has soared all her life – becoming who she was meant to be and accomplishing what she’s wanted to do. She quickly credits her mother for that – the one who encourages her; the one she talks with every day; the one she now calls her friend.

So what’s next? “I want to ride on a zipline…” which sounds kind of tame considering; and then she adds, “in a rain forest.”

Pictured: Charleston Southern University professor Kimberly Sims prepares to skydive on her 40th birthday.