This article explores how sequestered novices within a community of practice struggled with their reliance on individual learning resources and identity development. In a year-long study at a child-care center that included methods of participant-observation, interviewing, videotaping, and apprenticeship, five inexperienced child-care teachers, including me, relied heavily on our creativity, recollections, learning by doing, and embodied experiences. I suggest that future studies of communities of practice examine instances of sequestering and include the perceptions of novices. (Contains 3 notes.)