The backpack is often known as the portable office. Almost every student across campus uses a backpack to carry what they need for classes and daily life. In the dining hall or in classrooms, students sit at tables and their backpacks lay at their feet. What each person has in their bag is individual to them, and it can share a little about who they are.
Adele Farris, senior kinesiology major, pulled out the contents from her gray Bonnies bag. Inside was her laptop, psychology of addiction textbook, physics lab binder and calculator.
“I don’t just use it for academics,” said Ferris, “it holds the essentials to get me through the day.”
She also keeps her water bottle, glasses, pencil case, gum, hand lotion, hair ties for her physics lab and her planner in her bag.
“I can’t go anywhere without my planner,” said Ferris.
Even though Ferris is a kinesiology major, her bag looks a lot different from a freshman who is also studying in the School of Health Science.
Makiya Bilate, freshman health science major, keeps her biology notebook, chemistry notebook and laptop in her bag. Besides her books, she has her laptop charger, phone charger, glasses, pens and pencils, band-aid kit, whiteout, Beats headphones and a calculator. Bilate also packed a skirt for her prayer at the McGinley Carney Center for Franciscan Ministry.
“What I have in my bookbag depends on the day,” said Bilate. “I change out books and folders so my bag doesn’t get too heavy.”
The items students keep in their bags also show their different systems of organization. While Bilate exchanges her items depending on the day, other students have different methods of organization.
Cody Shimp, a freshman secondary education major, keeps his class subject materials with him at all times, which includes five textbooks, three binders and five notebooks. Along with his books, Shimp stores his laptop, calculator, water bottle, glue, Apple AirPods, pens and pencils and a planner.
“I really like to keep myself organized,” said Shimp, “I do that by keeping everything together.”
Bobby Nguyen, a junior computer science and cybersecurity double major, pulled a Principles of Programming language textbook from his bag. This textbook is particular to his major, one that not many other students would carry around. While he had books specific to him, he also carried a water bottle, planner and moisturizer, which are things many students pack with them.
The outside of students’ bags can also tell others about who they are. By putting keychains and mementos on bags, students make backpacks individual to them. Besides what was in his bag, Nguyen also had a Franciscan cord with its three knots tied to his bag. Ferris also had a keychain on her bag.
“Some parents made these for us at my A10s’s conference last year,” said Ferris.
Going about daily life, students may not pay much attention to the packs across their backs, but they can show who each person is.
What a freshman has in his or her bag might vary from what a senior has, and what a biochemistry major has in his or her bag might differ from what a music major keeps. A simple glance into a person’s backpack allows their life and personality to take shape.
By Rachel Kimmel, Contributing Writer
kimmelrp18@bonaventure.edu
