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28 "I feel like I'm never catching a break," said Braverman, no pun intended. "It's nonstop, nonstop, nonstop." Weekly counseling sessions help. So does church. He utilizes healthy coping mechanisms and those things have trickled from his personal life into track. e impact has been positive. "I'm more focused and relaxed," Braverman said. "I just want to do something big out of college, something noticeable for my community back home so family can appreciate it and I can help them when I'm done here. I would love to be the person who provides for my family." His newest family includes fellow Hawkeyes, specifically the hurdle group. It is a confident bunch and their closeness is seen in frequent hurdler group chats: You better be eating this, you better be sleeping in, we're going to go get it tomorrow, what are you making for dinner tonight? Photos are shared of meals, sleep schedules and extra core activity aer weight room. "We're probably the most critical divas when it comes to hurdles," Braverman said. "Every time we are done doing a rep, if anyone took a video, all of us are crowded around like vultures staring at it. en we correct, go back, and keep going." Calling track his happy place, Braverman said negative anxiety and pressure from the outside vanish on meet day. He is at home and at peace while training and competing with the Iowa hurdlers. e group has so much potential that Braverman is calling his shot now: by the end of the indoor season, everyone in Iowa's hurdle squad will be putting down times of 7.8 or faster. "We're expecting all of us to be at the Big Ten meet," he said. "If we're not in the finals, we're going to be in the prelims neck-in-neck with milliseconds deciding who gets in." Braverman is the first in his family to attend college and he takes that milestone seriously. He is excited to, as he says, beat the odds. His college years have been the hardest, yet most fulfilling, time of his life. "You don't know love until you have sacrifice," Braverman said. "e motto I see on the wall — Win. Graduate. Do It Right. — plays the biggest role for me. It's a great thing to be part of this because nothing but success comes out of Iowa."