February, I like to think, ends the winter season. At the very least, it serves as a transition point, a leap forward into spring. I’m going through similar leaps forward, or leap backwards? Read on for some general Claudia updates:

On the Job Market

I’m now a FWD.us alumna, no longer an intern. My time at FWD was incredible. I gained so much confidence and knowledge about Capitol Hill. Before FWD, I had never stepped foot in the halls of Congress. I had never shaken the hands of a senator or representative, yet alone be in a meeting room with them.

But I don’t fancy myself a pro community organizer. Instead, I’m a starving artist at age 23. I got stuck with a poet’s body in a culture that doesn’t pay artists their cultural capital.

I have no idea what happens next in my life, but here are some things that are obvious and opposites: there are bills to pay; I’m a writer.

Oh, and I have 18 months of protection from deportation in this country. Good luck to me.

All I’ve Yet to See & Hear

There’s so much of America that I want to see and because there’s a legal clock ticking, I want to go far this year.

If I started listing the things and places I haven’t seen, I might as well hide under a rock. Last year was actually my first trip to New York City. I haven’t seen a live concert. I haven’t been to any Disneylands. I haven’t traveled abroad.

I can’t afford much of my bucket list because of the starving artist situation. Fortunately, I live in gorgeous Virginia and near Washington, DC. There’s a lot of sightseeing potential here.

Anyone want to publish me?

I decided to publish my first poetry book last summer. I’ve been in the “please publish me” game for less than a year. I’ve had single poems accepted into magazines–this past week it was a series of poems in Argot magazine.

To my deep disappointment, the whole manuscript hasn’t found a home. I could be patient, in another life. My book can’t wait for long. I’m feeling very anxious because of the whole legal clock ticking.

There’s moves I could be making right now: self-publishing. That is something that’s on my mind.

Traditions

Over the years, DoSomething.org has partnered with Meals on Wheels to run the Love Letters Campaign. I joined the campaign in 2015, and because I love keeping traditions, sent in Valentine’s Day cards to seniors until 2017. This year the campaign didn’t open; maybe it was due to funding for the scholarship tied to the campaign. I could be wrong, but I for sure didn’t want to stop sending cards.

I got the junior youth group I help run on the weekends together. We all made Valentine’s Day cards to send to Cards for Hospitalized Kids.

#ToImmigrantsWithLove is also coming up. It’s a tradition hosted by FWD.us to send love to immigrants on Valentine’s Day. Write a physical or digital letter and share online.

Make it a Happy Valentine’s!

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Claudia Rojas is poeta. She’s also a TPS (Temporary Protected Status) holder. TPS protects individuals fleeing natural disaster and war on a temporary basis. The program has been extended for many years; no permanent solution has ever been presented. Currently, the countries of Haiti, Nicaragua, Sudan, and El Salvador have lost TPS and lives are at risk should Congress or America fail us. Call your member of Congress today through the FWD.us tool or find your representative’s info online.