Sensation seeking has long been associated with high risk behavior in young adults. High risk behavior leads to unintentional injury which is the leading cause of death for 15-24 year olds. While the relationship between sensation seeking and adverse health consequences is established little is known about how sensation seekers perceive and preserve their health. This research was interested in answering the question, which characteristics permit some sensation seekers to take risks without adverse effects while others become injured or die? The answer is important to health and human performance professionals because it can inform how we teach people to identify, assess and manage risk. Understanding those who “thrive on the edge” may foster the strategies to prevent modifiable health risks, foster health enhancement and harm reduction approaches. This descriptive study was conducted via an anonymous questionnaire distributed in sections of a required course at a Northeastern university during spring 2006 academic semester. Participants consented by completing a survey comprised of demographic questions, the Sensation Seeking Scale, the Life Effectiveness Scale, and the Perceived Wellness Scale. Sensation seeking is the need for varied, novel, and complex sensations and experiences and the willingness to take physical and social risks for the sake of such experiences. Perceived wellness is a measure of contributing factors to achieve well-being such as intellectual flexibility, achievement motivation, emotional control and the tendency to be active or passive when confronted with a challenge. Life effectiveness measured six domains of health; psychological, emotional, social, physical, spiritual and intellectual. Each of the factors was hypothesized to contribute to differences in risk taking motivation between high sensation seekers and low sensation seekers and those who experienced negative vs. positive health outcomes. The preliminary results were based on 307 of 435 surveys, a 70.57% response rate. The demographics variables accurately reflected the demographics of the student body; age (mean 21.4/SD 4.9), gender (male 34.5%, female 64.8%) and ethnicity (Caucasian 62.9%, African-descent 12.1%, Hispanic 16.3% and Asian 3.6%). Marital status was single (55.4%), dating (36.2%) and married/partnered (7.8%). There was a significant difference between sensation seeking scores between males and females and between different motivations for engaging in “unusual” or “dangerous” behavior. The final results of the study will support the existence of statistically significant differences between levels of sensation seeking, perceived wellness, and life effectiveness in high vs. low sensation seekers. Keyword(s): disease prevention/wellness, health education college/univ, research