I solo jumped from 13000' feet one time in Eloy, Arizona. After 8 hrs. of grilling classroom instruction they finally let me jump out of the plane
They have 2 jumpmasters jump right after you to chase you down if you freak out or freeze up. You have a whole "itinerary" to complete in the air, (things like turns, forward motion, etc.), and they want you to visually keep checking your altimeter, and they fly up to you and look in your eyes.
What I was suprised with was how much you can control your lateral movement with your body. Pull your arms back and straighten your legs a little and you go forward accelerating at about 120 mph (faster than a sport pilot

) Needless to say in my forward motion I ditched my jumpmasters (which they weren't too happy about) Pulled my shoot 1500 ft. too late (on purpose

, and dropped my rip-cord, which I had to pay for, but who can remember to hang onto that thing when so much is going on?
What a gas!