Took the day off to try to get the house ready, do chores, and pack.  They encourage to pack light but it's tough to take enough for 10 weeks, especially when the season is changing from summer to fall to winter while we are going to be there.  I think I have it down to three bags and a few miscellaneous items, plus the bike.

It has been fun getting to know people over the Discord chat.  Hopefully, the comradery and support shown in social media will continue once we all arrive in a couple days.  It's hard to think that in 48 hours this will begin.

Yesterday was my last day at work until December and what a day!  After meeting with the Governor's staff in the morning. Director Horty called me in to let me know I was selected to fill the new position of Deputy Director for Police Officer Standards and Training (POST).  This is a huge opportunity to affect training across Indiana, so it is both exciting and scary. Everyone at ILEA has been very supportive, but it is an immense undertaking.  At least I have a few weeks to get my feet under me while I'm at FBUNA and hopefully I can network with others for ideas.

Last night sleeping in my own place for a couple months.  They don't tell you who your roommate is until you arrive, so looking forward to getting through that.

 Today, we had a meeting at the FBI Field Office in Indianapolis.  It was good to start making connections and putting names and faces together.  One of the ideas that has been stressed repeatedly is that the FBINA is just as much about the connections and networking as it is the academics.  It will be interesting to see how this develops over the coming weeks.  I guess it goes back to the old, "It's not what you know, it's who you know."

I really need to start thinking about packing and getting things in order to be gone for 10 weeks.  Most of my time and energy has been devoted to making sure everything is squared away at ILEA since there are driving courses almost every week while I am gone.  I've spent days trying to line up guest instructors and make sure everything runs smoothly. I have every confidence in my co-workers, it's just hard to give up being with my knuckleheads for an extended period.  I'm going to miss the vast majority of their time here, including all their EVO time.  A recent FBINA graduate advised to disconnect from work while attending but it's going to be tough to do (or maybe not once I bite the bullet and do it).  

It's now two weeks until I have to report to Quantico for the start of the 284th session of the FBI National Academy.  I'm sure there is going to be lots going on, so in order to remember it, I thought a blog might be the easiest thing to do.  Many people have wanted to keep in touch about the experience, but I make no promises on how frequently this will be updated over the next few months.

For those who follow in future classes, hopefully you can glean a few bits of advice from reading through this. So far, the key has been to be very quick when it comes to enrolling in classes.  Registration opened at 12:00 and most classes were nearly full within 10 minutes.  Enroll in your top choices and work down from there rather than working chronologically through the day.  I was lucky enough to get all my choices, including the Fitness class recommended by many.  Hopefully, having a full load of graduate level classes does not come back and bite me later.  It's been a long time since I wrote college papers and I have a feeling at 58 I may be one of the oldest in the class.

There were lots of class ideas on setting up social media platforms, but it seems like Discord has been the best for communicating with other students.  Lots of ideas floating around in chat and can already see little cliques and groups forming but hopefully those will open up once we are there in person.  Many are nervous about the PT sessions, and it sounds almost like a fraternity party with all the talk of alcohol.