When I first joined staff, I was in Div 6. Although it was painful, I gained a lot from having to deal with public, and gained a lot of confidence. But working for £3.50 a week, and the despondency from realising that you were flogging a dead horse, made the overall experience working in Div 6 quite unpleasant. Yes, it was the camaraderie that made it semi-bearable.
When in the TTC, it was a more lonely and self-reliant experience, but I enjoyed doing the Levels, and felt I was increasing my knowledge. I found the Study Tech very useful (the bits that didn't involve fiddling with paper clips and keeping track of student points, that is - I quickly abandoned writing down points every time I looked up a word, and just used to estimate my points for the day). Overall, I enjoyed the TTC experience. But then I got back to my Org, and realised that it was the same old same old. Even as a newly tech-trained person, and doing a tech post being more interesting than Div 6, I wasn't prepared to continue living like that, in penury, and with an org that was basically empty. The TTC experience was interesting - studying at St. Hill, the beautiful countryside, experiencing LA at ITO, etc. But life back at a Class V Org in the UK was dismal. I toyed with the idea of joining the SO and maybe working at St. Hill. I was even offered a place to go and train up to Class IX for AOSH UK. I almost went for it, but then came to my senses and didn't bother. Overall, I'm glad I didn't. For a while afterwards, though, I thought that maybe I SHOULD have gone all the way to Class IX, because I figured that doing so would have meant that I wouldn't have been wondering about it after I left.
The thing that leaves lasting good memories for me is the sheer INTENSITY of my experience of Scientology. Studying 7 days a week, all day every day, and fitting in work on Scientology audits (of the financial kind) in the evenings to pay my food bill. I did that for about a year and a half, and I learned a lot from it in terms of life experiences. I got out just in time. If I'd spent much longer in there, then I think I would have come away with regrets at lost time. I also came away with debts, because I paid off my freeloader bill in full soon after I left. I always had tidy finances before I got into Scientology. My finances were wrecked for several years after leaving Scientology.
After getting out, it took me about 5 or 6 years to basically recover from Scientology. By that, I mean abandoning the idea that I had to get back in and go up the Bridge, and the idea that my life was just about getting enough money together to do my Bridge. My Scientology experience also cost me about 5 years of proper earning, so financially it was an expensive life lesson. In my case, I think I spent just about the optimum amount of time in the Church. I stayed in long enough for it to be a useful learning experience. And although my stay in Scientology had costs, I got out soon enough for it not to be irreparably costly to my life.
One thing I would do differently with hindsight is this: When I left, I spent a lot of time just sort of going around in a daze, wondering how I was going to go up the Bridge, etc. What I should have done is left, and then immediately jettisoned the Scientology programming about how I should live my life, etc. If I'd done that, then I would probably be looking back on my time in Scientology with fonder eyes.