I'm not sure I've shared this but my son, Gabe who is 17 years old, has always loved baking since 3 yr old. He wants to be a pastry chef. He has the opportunity to go to Pastry Camp at Bob Jones University (Christian college and homeschool curriculum we use). He paid for the whole thing himself, $500.

He went to the BJU Campus Tour with his dad this past April for 2 days (Greenville, South Carolina) and he got to experience dorm life. He had 4 roommates. His dad stayed across the street in the apartments for the married college students, so Gabe experienced being on his own somewhat.

This got him excited for college itself but also for the upcoming camp.

The Pastry Camp is July 7-12th and we will be dropping him off to stay the whole week by himself (vs. us staying in a hotel). We live 2 hours away. He is nervous but excited. We know that just going on the campus tour for 2 days and meeting the executive chef personally helped him feel more at ease. We pray this propels him a little more into manhood (as we know boys like to stay "boys" as long as they can) as in maturity, responsibility, etc.

Gabe does almost all the cooking at home. He doesn't "allow" me to cook much, just plan the meals. He hopes to by next year have his cottage food license and have booths at the local surrounding farmer's markets.

We feel this is a good start to know IF it's what he truly wants to do as a career or side hustle.

On a side note, Gabe has recently been diagnosed with flat feet and his podiatrist gave him special inserts and has to wear braces that wrap around his inner foot and ankle. If he's on his feet for more than 1-1/2 hours he can be in tremendous pain, so we are praying that God will give him endurance during the camp.

I know the college also plans fun activities after their classes.

Praying he has an amazing time, learns a lot, and retains a lot of the info (oh did I mention he has auditory processing disorder - hard to comprehend quickly when it's just talking no visuals, OCD, and comprehension delays

) and it stays in his memory, can learn quickly, and is healthy and safe.

Oh and maybe that mom and dad don't cry to much since he's our last child.

Thank ya'll so much. I know the more we pray, the better.

Hugs

Jen