Tandems are just like a ride at the carnival. You don't have to do/know much. Just enjoy.
If you want more responsibility and the experience of actually being in control of your skydiving experience, sign up for an advanced freefall (AFF) course. Your first jump will be with two instructors who hold onto you to keep you on your belly during freefall. You're responsible for pulling your own chute (but if you fuck up like I did on my first AFF jump and can't find the hackey, they'll deploy it for you) and for steering and landing the parachute. It takes around 4-6 hours of classroom time vs. just like 10 minutes of being told a couple of safety basics prior to a tandem jump.
tl;dr: A tandem is ideal for a one-time shock value experience. If you think you might be interested in taking the activity more seriously and continuing with it, consider doing an AFF course.
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