We asked some of our clients to describe a typical day at BBC:

During the week we get up at 6:45. At first, that was really hard for me. I had been used to staying up all night partying and then sleeping all day. After awhile I got used to getting up and now I have no problem with it. I never used to hardly eat and I don't know when the last time was that I had breakfast before I came here. Now I can't wait to eat some grinds in the morning. The first thing we do after breakfast is have a goals group. I thought this was stupid my first few days here. Now, I see it as a way to start the day right.

We have school and group therapy in the morning. I had totally stopped going to school before I came here. Even when I went, I was usually high and never got along with my teachers. I was tripping my first few days at school here. I thought I'd never be able to sit still. Now, I'm tripping because I'm actually doing good in school. I'm going to graduate high school and I'm even thinking about going to college.

Group therapy is another whole scene. At first, I couldn't believe that I was going to have to sit around with 7 other guys and a counselor talking for an hour and a half. I had never told anyone too much about myself or my family. I had always thought that was no one's business but my own. I used to try to get out of group by saying that I was sick but they didn't fall for my excuses here. Every day I had to go to group and every day they kept telling me that I had to "work on me." Well, it's been 2 months now and I've really been working on me. It's not easy to look at yourself and figure out what you gotta do different but that's what I'm doing. I'm learning how to be honest, own up to my stuff and take responsibility. At first, I couldn't figure out what any of that had to do with sobriety. Now it makes sense.

When you're new here, you have to go to CD Ed [chemical dependency education class] for a month. You learn about the Disease, Denial, Loss of Control, stuff like that. It was hard at first cuz I was fiending for drugs but now I get that I have a Disease and that I can recover. It's still a struggle to be clean and sober but I see a different way now and I really don't want to go back to the old stuff. I know it's a dead end for me.

In the weekday afternoons, except Wednesday, we have another short group. That one goes quick. Some afternoons, if you're a senior client, you can work and earn BBC bucks. It's not real money, but you get to use the bucks to buy stuff like extra phone calls, a movie or an hour off.

We do PE [physical education] during the weekdays. All that time that I was using, I stopped doing sports. I just got high. I never did any exercise for so long. Now, I feel healthy and in good shape. I'm even lifting weights.

Every evening's different. A couple nights a week, we watch movies, one night we have a 12-step meeting here and one night we go out to a 12-step meeting. Other nights, we have stuff like anger management, and smoking cessation. I like anger management. It's really helping me figure out better ways to deal with my irritation.

There's down time too. There's time where we get to hang out in the cabin, make our phone calls, play chess or cards. I never knew how to play chess before I came here. Now, I'm getting to be a decent player. There's one guy who I can never beat but I'm not giving up.

On Wednesdays we go on different outings, like to the movies, PCC [Polynesian Cultural Center], miniature golf, Water Park, stuff like that. On Saturdays and Sundays, we go to the beach. Before I started using, I used to surf and then totally stopped because I was so chronic. Now I'm surfing again and figuring out that I can have fun without drugs.

I know that eventually I gotta leave here and live on the outs. I don't know how I'm going to make sure that I don't go back to my old ways. In the beginning here, I thought they were keeping us too busy. Now, I get that having stuff to do really keeps you out of trouble. Right now I'm working with my counselor to make sure that I have a good daily plan for my next home pass. I think that with the stuff I'm learning every day, I'll be able to make it if I remember that each day I gotta have a plan that helps me keep clean and sober. Like they say in the program [12-step], one day at a time.

- As described by BBC clients