Honestly, you need to look at it as a life changing experience. Something that is going to change your whole personality, because if you don't, it will fail. Your introverted personality currently is as a result of your stutter, you need to imagine being an outgoing person from the get go, and as soon as you learn the technique you will. Falling back into your old habits comes from what I've said above, you need to look at the experience as a change in your life, rather than something you're implementing into it. A change in lifestyle. I suggest even working on your physical health while you're at it, and attempt to change other bad habits or lifestyle choices that you have/made. You find inspiration from what you've achieved and even from the goals that you want to achieve, that's how you don't fall into old habits. You only ever look back to take inspiration or learn for the future. My first course was the same, I had no idea how to hold a conversation, but you get better with practice, it's the same as anything. They're going to make you treat the whole experience at the beginning as a war, a war in the sense that you're giving everything to working on yourself and your speech. After this you'll begin to treat it with a sporting mentality, in that you practice, practice, practice. And you never miss a practice for anything in the world. I'm going to my 3rd course in the next few weeks, and I'm challenging myself to make conversation more, even though at the last course I went to I saw myself as a center of conversation in the friend group that had come together, which is basically made up of the youngest members. You'll make some life long friends and relations due to the McGuire programme, as it's such a tight community and the support system is outstanding. Everyone there will either be in the same position or has been in the same position as you, that's what's critical about the whole thing. You have no speech therapists who have never stuttered in their life telling you what they learned in college (No disrespects to them), you have average people who stutter trying to come together and help eachother. I hope you take a lot from my rambling, please ask any more questions that come up, I'm open to answering anything. :) PS: About the hotel, It's worth saving up for, having access to being able to practice your learned techniques with other members is key to the course. Good luck!