Jake, a 27-year-old former Marine, describes himself as "somebody who would rather live life than watch it pass him by."
But he has had things rush past him, such as clouds while skydiving, cacti while riding his motorcycle up to 202 mph in the desert and bullets while he fought in Iraq.
Jake said he does not want his last name revealed because he never told his family about his tour in Iraq. Risky hobbies are an essential part of Jake's life.
"No matter how many times you do it, your heart just flutters," he said about skydiving. "Even after 105 jumps, you still feel the same way each time. It's like after sex. I always need a cigarette."
Dr. William Dwyer, a University of Memphis psychology professor, said taking risks is more than just living life on the edge - a person could be genetically inclined to be a risk taker.
"Risk taking is a reinforced behavior, but also some people have a 'risk-taking' gene that could lead them to take risks," he said. "The gene is related to the dopamine receptor, which makes you feel good when you do something."
Although he has never been skydiving, Dwyer is no stranger to risks. Before he was a professor, Dwyer served as a police officer.
Dwyer said someone's environment growing up could affect his or her inclination to engage in certain risk-taking behaviors. If a risk taker is rewarded for taking that chance, then he or she receives positive reinforcement that encourages him or her to do it again, he said.
"If as a child you were given a prize for speaking in public, you could grow up enjoying public speaking," he said.
Jake said fear is the driving force behind anything good.
"Being scared is that one little safety that everyone has," he said. "When you're so comfortable doing something dangerous that you are not scared, you need to move onto something that does scare you."
The Insurance Information Institute Web site reports that the United States was the most insured nation in the world in 2005 with $1.1 trillion in total premiums, with a little over 33 percent of the world's premiums.
That is not surprising since 13 of the top 20 most costly world insurance losses in 2005 and nine of the top 10 most costly world insurance losses from 1970-2005 happened in the United States.
Fear may be the basis for buying more than enough insurance, but something more than fear drove America's founding fathers to change history, Dr. Margaret Caffrey said.
"The founding fathers were all young," the American history associate professor said. "I think age and the love of the adventure has something to do with risk takers in history."
Some risk taking is just for fun, but some is out of necessity, Caffrey said.
"The American Revolution was the greatest risk in our country's history," she said. "No one knew what was going to happen."
Not many risk takers can recognize what the positive or negative consequences will be when they do something, Caffrey said.
"History may judge a risk taker later as foolish or smart, but no one knows it at the time," she said.
Risk takers have changed history and made a better life for today's generations, according to Dr. Janann Sherman, chair of the history department.
"They had a sense of mission - a clear idea of what they need to do and why it was important - and certainly a willingness to take risks," she said. "It freed them up to be a little over the top in challenging the status quo."
Sherman, who specializes in women in American politics during the 20th century, said women suffragists who fought for the right to vote during the 1920s are among the best examples of historical figures who took risks.
She said Alice Paul, one of the leaders and one of the most radical of the suffragists, sacrificed most of her life to fight for women's rights.
"She was willing to risk everything because she saw that (the Women's Movement) was so important."
Sherman said that historically, risk takers who fought for change were not taking chances for fun or to get a rush.
"I think what was more compelling to them was the historical moment they found themselves in," she said. "They saw something as wrong - something that needed fixing - so they put themselves forward to do it."
Silvia Scarpa-Cox, a paramedic at two local ambulance services, said just getting out of bed each morning is a risk all of us have to take.
"In the work that I am in, each call is a risk," she said. "But I became a paramedic to give back to the community and society."
Her career was born out of risk.
Scarpa-Cox became a paramedic after surviving a house fire that could have taken her and her family's lives. She risked her life to save them.
"It was not a matter of risk, but a matter of survival," she said. "I have to say God was with us because we all got out."
She bypassed jumping out of her window to safety in order to save her family. She had to get her husband and daughter out of the burning house. She went through the flames to get to her daughter. She then spent six months in the hospital and two more years recovering, she said.
"But at least we survived," she said.
Scarpa-Cox said that she meets risk takers often through car accidents that she encounters.
She said people get into trouble because they do not understand the danger in what they are doing.
"People don't use their brains sometimes," she said. "If they would just think before they act, they wouldn't do half the stuff they do."
Jake said he is a risk taker because of the massive rush of adrenaline to which nothing else compares.
"I never needed illegal drugs or anything like that because I was always stupid enough to go jump off of something," he said.
When someone's environment competes with genetic makeup to affect how he or she handles a situation, Dwyer said, this is called nature versus nurture - nature being the genetic make-up and nurture being the person's upbringing.
Jake suggested a motto for risk takers.
"You can die doing anything," he said. "You might as well die having fun."
