Institute Advice

Hello again TFA STL! I thought an appropriate topic for this post would be Institute, since it's a common-and often stressful-bond between every CM. I remember going into Institute feeling prepared, but coming out of it with the realization that I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. While there were a lot of positive things about Institute like the bonding, my fabulous CMA group, and my students, all you hear about are the negative things.

Since all of us '08's have gone through the Institute experience, albeit at a different site, I thought it would be nice for us to share some advice with the '09's to help them transition from college to Institute. What are some things you wish you had known before Institute? What are some things you wish you had brought? Looking back, what would you have done differently? Exactly how important were those lovely texts and readings included in the "packet" TFA mailed out to you? How did you keep your sanity under pressure?

For you '09's, what do you want to know? How can the 08's best help you? And how excited are you to be a part of TFA here in STL?