Justin and I attended Orientation at U of Alabama last week, and I have to say, the boy chose well! It's an absolutely beautiful campus and there is tremendous spirit and pride there. I'll share a few snapshots with you but I did not do the school justice.
This is the Student Recreation Center. This is about a quarter of the building. It has 100+ cardio machines, 100+ weight machines, an indoor lap pool, an outdoor pool with a water slide (think Water Country) and a lazy river, 8 full size basketball courts, a climbing wall, etc., etc.
This is looking across "The Quad". Again, this only represents a fraction of it's size. We are standing on Capstone Dr facing University Bld. For refernece, the Football Stadium is about a half-mile ahead and to the right.
Home Sweet Home :-) This is Paty Hall where Justin will live. Coincidentally it also houses the package delivery center, so he will only need to go downstairs to collect his care packages. Unless we use USPS. In that case he will have to go to the Student Center where there is a full fledged and service US Post Office!
This is the main entrance of Shelby Hall which houses the School of Engineering. I was able to go with him to meet a representative from Engineering to begin course selection for the fall. The lecture room we were in was very up to date, and intimate enough to encourage discussion in class.
The visit was fantastic. He's excited for his future. I can't believe he leaves in two weeks!
Neal wanted to go too. "I'll drive the first leg" he said.
And off they go! They left Strafford at 9am Wednesday and arrived in Tuscaloosa, AL at 6:15pm EDT Thursday.
The visit was fantastic. He's excited for his future. I can't believe he leaves in two weeks!
Look out below!
This weekend we celebrated Justin's graduation from High School. It was a great day filled with lots of friends and family. Thank you to everyone who shared it with us!
It's all fun and games until you want to come in the house and Mom makes you have a bath! But I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
It's a big week this week at our house. Justin graduates! Baccalaureate was tonight. At Coe Brown Northwood Academy it is an evening celebrating the success of the class as a group and individuals. All of the students are introduced by the headmaster and their plans for next year are announced. It is also a time to showcase the many talents of the graduating class. Although there are some very bright kids in Justin's class, what stood out tonight was their amazing artistic talents. The band played a beautiful selection, the chorus sang a very moving piece, and the select choir brought tears to my eyes with their rendition of The Star Spangled Banner. But what was truly amazing was the art. In a word....... stunning. This group of kids has crazy talent for capturing their world in every media imaginable. I would love to send you to the school web page to view their work, but the class of 2009 has not been posted yet. 
This is Justin being introduced. His plans for next year are to attend the University of Alabama where he will major in mechanical engineering and be a member of the waterski team. 
