What I'd tell someone who just joined this community and feels overwhelmed

Remember feeling genuinely overwhelmed reading through dozens of detailed posts here early on — so much specific advice, so many considerations, that it felt like an impossibly long list of things to get right all at once. Wanted to write something specifically for someone in that early, overwhelmed state. You don't need to internalize every single post here before you start — most of what's useful will become relevant at the specific stage you're actually at, not all at once right now. Start with the basics: understand the ten criteria at a high level, get a sense of which ones might fit your background, and start gathering the evidence you already clearly have. The more granular, specific advice (exhibit numbering conventions, letter-writer outreach strategies, RFE objection categorization) will matter more once you're actually at those stages — reading it all upfront, before you need it, is part of what makes this feel so overwhelming. This process happens in stages, and so can your learning about it. Give yourself permission to not have it all figured out on day one.