Back to School: What to Keep in your Backpack

Now that you have found the perfect backpack or are still looking for the perfect one (see below), you need stuff to put in it!

Last year I used a Timbuk2 Backpack similar to this.This backpack was perfect for me, the person who tends to shove everything she owns into a bag making it weigh way too much!

With two main zipper compartments it was a perfect fit for me. The laptop zipper compartment was located on the side, making the reach in and out for my computer easier on me. In addition, there was a small pocket inside of the laptop compartment, which was great for keeping my ipad in too.

The main compartment was just big enough to hold a large 3-ring binder and a textbook with a pleasure reading book too. Anything more than those items and the weight of my bag would have been a hazard.

For classes that I had a lot of handouts to use for future studying or print-out notes, I would put them in a binder for easy access. Everything else had its own folder and coordinating notebook. I am a big fan of these folders. I love having the three pronged holder to hold my syllabuses and other important papers for the class.

Instead of punching holes in those important papers I would use clear plastic sheets to hold them in. It also allowed for easy access to the papers I needed.

The inside of the large pocket in my backpack also boasts a zippered pocket with 3 pencil slots and 4 additional compartments. In the compartments I would keep post-it notes, index cards, and highlighters.

I am a huge fan of online shopping and found these Zebra highlighters. I remember them taking a long time to ship, but it was worth the wait. These highlighters have a normal slanted highlighter side and a pointed pen side, which is great for underlining!

When I am taking notes I like to use pens that are not “ink pens.” There is something about the ink just randomly stopping or the smudge, either way I like to use pens that are not ball-point. My two favorite pens are Paper Mate Flair! The best part is that they come in an array of colors, great for taking notes!

The Paper Mate pens write a little heavier than the Sharpie pens, so it depends on what surface i’m writing on for which pen I use. I also like to divide the colors and have half of both sets of pens in my book bag and the other halves in my desk, so I always have a pen ready!

In addition I would keep pencils and a regular black ball-point pen. I do this now, keep the black ball-point pen because when I took my backpack with me to Costa Rica last winter, I had no pen that would properly write on my customs and immigration forms! Ooops, thank you to the elderly man sitting next to me who was prepared!

The zippered pocket was my “go to” pocket. I kept extra ponytail holders and bobby pins, feminine products, my calculator, hand sanitizer, and $15 (one five dollar bill and one ten dollar bill and sometimes a few extra ones).

I loved having that extra cash in there because I typically only carried around my id’s and my cards. The cash provided me with a vending machine snack when I didn’t have one packed, a lunch on campus if I couldn’t make it back to my dining hall in time, or a donation to whatever philanthropy was being broadcasted in the union. KEEP CASH IN YOUR BACKPACK!

Everything had its place! I don’t know if the umbrella holder is actually for umbrellas, but I kept mine in there all the time. I attend school in Northeast Kansas, and the weather is incredibly unpredictable. I used it on more than one occasion where I walked out of my dorm at 8:30 a.m. and the weather was sunny skies and walked out of class at 10:00 a.m. and it was down pouring!

If you have any suggestions about what to keep in your backpack that I forgot, please comment below!

XOXO,

Jena