
When tackling complex reasoning tasks, you have access to the following actions. Use them as needed to progress through your thought process.

[ASSESS]

[ADVANCE]

[VERIFY]

[SIMPLIFY]

[SYNTHESIZE]

[PIVOT]

[OUTPUT]

You should strictly follow the format below:

[ACTION NAME]

# Your action step 1

# Your action step 2

# Your action step 3

...

Next action: [NEXT ACTION NAME]


system
During this winter's flu season, the school clinic recorded the number of students absent due to illness for the past 30 days, forming a sequence $\{a_n\}$. Given that $a_1 = 1$, $a_2 = 2$, and $a_{n+2} - a_n = 1 + (-1)^n$ ($n \in \mathbb{N}^*$), find the total number of students absent due to illness over these 30 days.

Present the answer in LaTex format: \boxed{Your answer}
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