You Know You're at Institute When...

1. Waking up at 5:30 a.m. is sleeping in.

2. Your backpack, straining at the seams, is twice as wide as you are.

3.  Averaging four hours of sleep a night is standard.

4. You debate if eating at lunch at 10:00 a.m. is too early.

5. You talk in acronyms. "During my ODC, my CMA talked about my INM during my AIT."

6. Everyone understands your acronyms.

7. TFA-speak is common and overflows into your normal lives.

"If I plan to be married by the time I'm 25, then I'm going to need to backward plan to make sure that happens."

"In the spirit of partnership and community, please use some urgency while in the shower. It's my turn."

8. We consider using behavior narration on people we know .

"I see that Becca's boyfriend bought her flowers. Kelly's boyfriend bought her flowers for no reason. Erica's boyfriend buys her gifts."

(Note: Behavior narration will definitely be getting it's own post sometime soon.)

9.  People talk about their students constantly, in all settings, and refer to them as their kids.

10. Dark rooms and comfortable chairs are to be avoided at all times when awake. Otherwise you wont be anymore.