Clarion Advice to Incomers

It's that time of the year. This time last year, we were all preparing for Clarion - rushing to finish stuff at home, preparing packing lists, looking for stories by our instructors, and beginning to make contact on the Google Group set up for us...

And now another batch of Clarionites is coming up - actually, several, considering Clarion West and Clarion South. My classmate Julie Andrews has posted a very good entry with pre-Clarion advice on her Livejournal site. I think the most important thing she said was the bit about clearing the time: Don't have outside commitments if you can possibly avoid it. Clarion is immersive and time-consuming, and it works because of that. 

I'll add one small suggestion for Clarion Diego: If you're within driving distance, and can bring your car, do so. Much of the campus transport is on hold during summer, and it's difficult to get around without a car. Our group was lucky; there were just enough cars+ drivers to transport everyone. (If you're in a similar situation, the group as a whole might want to work out some arrangement for sharing gas costs - it's getting pricey.)

I'm jealous, you guys! It was an amazing experience. I hope your groups are as wonderful as ours.