Pursuing, Busy, and Tired: a Recap of January + February

“There are only the pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

 In these past two months, I'm not entirely sure if I was the pursuing, the busy, or the tired; after seemingly unending days of juggling class, homework, Model UN, musical production team, chorus concerts, SAT prep, debate competition, and writing for my blog and other publications, I am, without a doubt, exhausted. I don't know if I've ever been so tired, but the arrival of March (what, it's March already?) promises relief at its end.

I discontinued monthly recaps last year, but I decided to reintroduce them bimonthly because it provides enough time for me to share more substantive reading and blogging updates. I also decided to highlight  some updates on my other projects and activities, though, simply because I love my projects and seek a log to remember them and a platform to share them.

what I read

Across January and February, I read nine books. Occupation with my extracurriculars has already set me seven books behind schedule of reaching my goal, 100 books in 2018, but I am confident that I can catch up during the summer if I can keep the amount I am behind under ten books.

• One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus: The first book I read this year, reminded me of how much I enjoy thriller stories and murder mysteries.

• Warcross by Marie Lu: Didn't enjoy the romance aspect, but I could gush over Lu's world-- the modern cities were incredibly vivid.

• One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake: Again, I was thrown off by the romance, but so much so that I felt it detracted from the story's potential.

• The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed: An important story, right when I needed it. Review to come.

• Yellow by Frank Wu: Read this for an English paper I'm working on, and I could relate to a lot of sentiments as an Asian-American. Also presented some insightful arguments I hadn't considered before.

• What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton: A bit dense to read at some policy descriptions, but interesting to read about the campaign and small moments from Clinton's perspective.

• The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro: Ending of this series became a bit confusing, but I loved the first book so much that I am inclined to finish the series.

• 1984 by George Orwell: Scary, but made me think. 

• I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo: Loved relating to another Korean-American girl in high school! Post about this experience to come.

noteworthy on clairefy

• I demanded action against shootings in American schools with the #NeverAgain movement. 
• I discussed the power of poetry to encompass the human experience and remind us that we are not alone in our struggle to balance the armful.
• I reviewed One Dark Throne, a story that, for me, marked this series's fall from grace. 
• I recapped 2017 and shared my goals for the new year.

me, elsewhere

• Musical production team: This year, I am acting as my theater department's Tech Day, Senior Show, and Student Volunteer Coordinator. I usually spend about three hours calling local businesses and nursing homes, arranging tech day and senior show logistics, organizing student ushers and waitstaff for show nights and parents for pick-up, and other related tasks four times a week. According to my spreadsheet, I've officially made more than 100 calls to secure food for the event (and this is only counting restaurants)! Tech Day is this Saturday, and show week is next week, so things are becoming busier than ever.

• On MissHeard Media, I wrote about steps to achieve your New Year's goals and 7 YA books to celebrate Black History month.

• Model UN: I attended a conference a few weeks ago, and it was a blast as the United States. My partner and I participated in a joint Security Council and crisis committee, and we managed to pass a resolution. I had to run from the conference to a chorus concert, back to the conference the next day and a debate competition the following day, so I was worn out but glad for the experience. 

• Best Delegate: I wrote an article to be published in the coming months on crafting position papers and brainstormed some more MUN articles I'll write when I have more time.

• Debate: Oh my goodness. My best friend and I are public forum partners, and this is our first year in debate. We competed in districts this year, and managed to place second overall to move on to state debate! Districts was only our second competition ever, and we were shocked and excited to find out we could move on. I am nervous for states (coming just a week after the musical, too), and the changing monthly topic requires us to research and prepare new arguments, but I think it will also be fun.

• Track: Finding time to exercise in between my projects has been difficult, but the season starts next week. Again, I hope to fulfill my resolution, to overcome race nerves and negative thoughts to rediscover the same love of running I held in my first cross-country season.

• Academics: This week, I've had to work on two major papers: a government essay on the roles and powers of American presidents and an analysis of one, which capped out at nine pages, and my aforementioned English argument essay on Asian-American progress, which I will start editing next week. I've continued mind-mapping to prepare for tests. My SAT is also next Saturday, on a musical show day. 

wonderful posts I read 

• Aimee @ Aimee, Always offered three compelling reasons for reviewing backlist books. 
• Tiffany @ Read by Tiffany created the Booksta-Grammys tag to celebrate bookish instagrammers.
• Nikki @ 4:40 am shared her thoughts on American school shootings and how tragedies work.
• Tasya @ The Literary Huntress points out the prevalence of romance in YA books.
• Courtney @ Buried in a Bookshelf argues that YA needs more college students.
• Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books delves into how she rates books.
• Tessa @ Crazy for YA compares The Night Circus and The Crown's Game in a book battle.
• Haley @ Twirling Pages wrote a letter to all the (fictional) boys she has loved before.

Tell me-- how was your February? What's a book you really want to read in March?