What lies in the depths of Williston student backpacks?
At the core of every student’s backpack lies the items needed for academic success, like textbooks, notebooks, and writing utensil. Laptops and tablets have also become essential tools for completing schoolwork at Williston, especially with Veracross and OneNote being at the core of every class curriculum.
For many students, their backpacks also reflect their individuality and interests. Many carry headphones, water bottles, snacks, beauty products, sketchbooks, and so on. Others have decorations and patches on their bags. Some have even chosen to revert back to kindergarten aesthetics with cartoon-themed bags like “Paw Patrol” or “Peppa Pig” bags.
Leon Sohmen-Pao, a senior at Williston, has a particularly unique assortment of items in his backpack: class worksheets without a folder, a singular pencil without lead, both his personal MacBook and school Microsoft Surface, a wallet with currency from multiple countries, two glasses cases without glasses, loose change, and a pack of napkins.
“I don’t like to keep myself organized, this way is just faster,” he said.
Another senior, Pittman Alley, carries a backpack has an Active Minds neon green bandana tied to the top of it, and two Epi pens stored on each side “because I can’t die. I’m allergic to cashews.”
Of course, he has textbooks, notebooks, a calculator, but also “20 pencils if someone needs a pencil, and they’re mechanical not regular, because the regular ones suck from how much you have to sharpen them.” Despite that, he still carries a pencil sharpener. Always prepared.
In the smaller exterior pouches of Pittman’s bag, he has a notecard for a presentation about the Berlin Wall that he did sophomore year which he carries because “I did very well on that presentation”, as well as a medal won during his freshman year.
Mei Gazama, on the other hand, is completely minimalist. She carries a plain brown bag, and inside of it is only a Surface (with no charger), a pack of gum, and a few blank pieces of paper (with no pencils).
“Purses are just more fashionable,” she said. “I can’t find a good backpack, and purses just look and feel better.”
She has been using a purse for two years, and is not considering reverting back to the backpack lifestyle.
Sarah Levine, English teacher at Williston, despite admitting “backpacks are an incredible invention,” carries a tote bag.
“Student backpacks look heavy and I wonder if people even need everything in their backpack,” she said.
In her poker-card themed tote bag, Levine has a lavender scent pack, typically 2-3 books (usually a novel, a short story anthology, and a poetry anthology), a phone, a charger, her wallet, lip balm, a “grounding clearing spirit mist spray” that she uses for the yoga class she coaches after school, crumpled receipts, an old lollipop, and pens and pencils with a notebook.
“Something’s wrong if I don’t have my pens and pencils and a notebook,” she said
Parker Brown, senior at Williston, has a messenger-bag styled leather backpack with dangling charms and decorations she has on it. On the outside, she has a Keffiyeh tied to the bag handle, a pink fluffy bunny, and keychains of two comic characters.
“The bunny is a matching one with Sebastian Enriquez,” she said. “I got it from my place of work, which is a children’s toys store. The comic characters are from my favorite comic, I was one of the first people to buy a physical copy from the author, and they offered me these keychains.”
Inside her bag, she has her own personal computer and charger, pencils, a folder with papers because “Mr. Doubleday doesn’t do OneNote” a personal book, and Exit West, and AirPods.
