I finished reading The Catalyst. Kate was really self-centered and selfish in the beginning. She thought she was in the worst situation ever and pitied only herself. Even though she knew that Teri had been through a lot more than she has, Kate could not bring herself to symphatize with Teri. She's too caught up with her own life plus Teri has always been a bully. I think one of the messages the author is trying to tell is "even if you don't get into the college of your dreams, it won't be the end of the world. life will still go on." She's trying to say there are more important things than just studying and going to a prestigious university.

I think this is a good message for a lot of Korean students (including me). In Korea, students AND parents are obssessed with getting straight A's, scoring well on the SAT, doing well in AP or IB classes, graduating top of the class, and getting accepted to one of the top colleges in the US/ world. A student's high school, and sometimes middle school, life revolves around achieving these goals. But life isn't about going to Harvard; it's about what you choose to do with your life after college, what kind of a person you become.

I can personally relate to Kate's busy high school life with no sleep. Even though I'm not in any IBs yet, balancing forensics with school is really difficult. I prepped SO MUCH for the first competition because if I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it right. Sure, it paid off, I placed well in both of the events I participated in. But now, because I was working so hard on forensic stuff, I'm so behind on school stuff that is all due next week. I'll pull it off somehow because I'll be so hard on myself it I don't, but it's just stressful...

'I've been running too much. My legs need a rest.' -Kate Malone

I couldn't agree more.