"This Is The Life!"

Those were Braden's words to us when he called tonight.

"Mom, this is the life! I wake up at 6:30, stuff myself at the dining hall for breakfast, then head to the pool. I'm in the pool for three hours, and then I drag myself back to the dining hall to eat. After lunch we rest and recharge, then we go back to the pool and swim for another three hours. Then I drag myself to the dining hall and stuff myself before going back to the dorm to rest. After rest time it's free time until it's time for bed! I could do this every day!"

We could tell from his voice that he was exhausted, but very, very happy. He's learning a lot, both in the pool and in the classroom sessions.

Midway through the conversation I heard a knock on his dorm room door. When he answered, I heard a voice say, "Braden, there's a party on the 10th floor."

Braden said, "What does that mean?"

The voice hesitated, clearly not expecting to be asked any specifics, and finally said, "Ah, we guys are just upstairs watching tv and eating junk food."

After Braden told the voice that he'd be upstairs soon, he came back to the phone and said, "Eating, swimming, going to class, hanging out: If this is what college is like, I'm there!"

It's good to have goals, I suppose. At least he's thinking about college. Party on, dude!