September 2021 Wrap-Up: There’s Something About Senior Year

It’s hard to describe the feeling I’ve had since the beginning of September. During the year and a half I spent stuck in my house in quarantine, it was like my life was on pause.

Now it’s like I’m trying to play catch-up and get myself in the mindset that yes, now I’m almost 17 and I’m moving out in less than a year. Suddenly I’m back to the pre-pandemic workload and social life and it’s overwhelming because I feel like I skipped something, that I’m still an underclassman and the entire last year was a dream. But it’s not, and now I’m behind!

Life Update:

• well basically, I’ve been drowning in homework and EA applications
• But school has been really fun! I forgot how much happier I am at in-person school. I love being able to see my teachers and friends every day, and it’s so much easier to pay attention in class when you aren’t at home in your pajamas.
• I like all my classes, and it feels great to be reading books in English again
• I found a bunch of good music– Jenny Nuo has the most relatable songs about being an overachieving girl in STEM…. My current favorite is “print(“i’m so tired”)” — (Shout-out to the guy in my physics class who a few weeks ago told me I “must be so smart, a white girl taking E&M”, proceeded to act overly impressed when I said I’m planning to major in CS, then asked me whether I think I have a “good grasp on calculus” before trying to flex how much he read ahead in our textbook)
• the weather has been absolutely gorgeous where I live. Not trying to jinx it, but the number of 70-80 degree sunny days is just unheard of! (Except now it’s becoming way too hot for October in my humble opinion)

Reading:

I only read four books this month, which, perhaps unsurprisingly, is the lowest monthly total I’ve had since before the pandemic and before I started this blog…. whooooops….

To be fair, this is about the busiest I’ve EVER been, and October will probably be even worse. The only time I have to read whatsoever is over the weekend, and oftentimes I’m spending that time on college applications.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck- 2/5 stars

I reviewed Of Mice and Men on my banned books post the other day, but, in short, I wasn’t the hugest fan of it. Goodreads review!

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison- 4/5 stars

The Bluest Eye was also reviewed on my banned books post; overall, I thought it was a worthwhile read. The writing was easily the best part, and while it dealt with very serious topics and was, yes, pretty depressing, I was glad I read it.

George by Alex Gino- 2/5 stars

Okay. Yes. Another book that appeared on my banned books post (can you tell I worked hard on that post?) You can also read my Goodreads review here!

The Secret History by Donna Tartt- 4/5 stars

As you can maybe tell by the “international bestseller” tagline up there, The Secret History is pretty popular, and I thought it was indeed worth the hype. And guess what, you can read my full blog review HERE.

Blogging:

This month I reached 1,100 combined Twitter & blog followers, which is pretty cool if I do say so myself! Thanks to all of you for supporting this site!

Here are my posts from this month:

August 2021 Wrap-Up: It’s Almost Fall!

Book Review: The Secret History by Donna Tartt | Dark Academia Gone Wrong

The Liebster Award 2021 | Find Out Some More Useless Facts About Me!

Goals:

Last Month’s Goals:

1) Go to bed before 10 PM–

Okay, September Emily. You’re a real barrel of laughs.

2) Write my common app essay and draft supplements-

I actually did this one! My essays are coming along nicely.. well, at least, I hope they are, but I am happy with what I have so far.

3) Continue to write blog posts consistently-

So, objectively speaking, I did not post consistently in September. However, I’m going to cut myself some slack because I have quite literally never been as over-scheduled as I am right now! I have so much on my plate, I’m proud of myself for posting the number of times I did.

This Month’s Goals:

1) Get back into a reading routine-

I’ve been struggling to find time to read with school, so one of my goals for October is going to be figuring out a reading routine. Maybe I can squeeze in some time during lunch, before bed… something.

2) Waste less time on social media-

I have a limited amount of free time right now, so I don’t want to spend it scrolling aimlessly through “Insta-Tok” (why did they have to add Reels? I have been trying to avoid TikTok and now I’m addicted to the knockoff version?)

3) Eat healthier-

I have a bad habit of not packing enough sustenance for lunch, so, uh… I’m trying to expand my school lunch repertoire past the quintessential pretzels and yogurt.

Well, that’s it for my September wrap-up? How was the month for you? Have you read any of the books I picked up this month?

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