The forecast said that deep, moist convection was likely for your afternoon flight. On your drive to the airport, you second-guess the 10,000-foot altitude you filed. Should you have filed for the low to mid teens? Perhaps you should have filed a much lower altitude to try and stay below the clouds?
The prime directive in convective flying is simple: Strive to stay visual at all times unless you have the equipment, training and experience to do otherwise. Staying in VMC goes a long way to keeping you out of the nastiest part of the thunderstorm, the in-cloud turbulence.
