The school year has officially started! Well, actually, it started last week…but who’s counting, really… As, I did one of these last year and thought it would be nice to carry on the tradition of showcasing the mysteries my backpack holds! (Read: I actually have a lot to do and someone had already requested this post so this was the easy way out. I’m sorry! D: I’ll have cooler posts after fellowship season is over.)

Regardless of the reason I’m writing this, I hope you enjoy! Let’s get on with the show, shall we?

First off, the star of this post, my backpack which I’ve had since last year. This thing has taken so much abuse and has traveled with me on all my recent adventures. Though in desperate need of a wash, it’s survived without a single rip and still looks relatively pretty! So yeah, if you need a backpack that’s fashionable, yet durable, I do recommend this one.

As for the things I carry in said backpack, these are the typical things I lug around:

1. My water bottle (save the environment and stay hydrated, folks)
2. My “brain dump” steno book that holds notes of everything from meetings to seminars. Also known to be used for random stress drawings.
3. A hanging file folder filled with all my student’s assignments that I have to grade. Occasionally replaced with a notebook or science papers I printed out to read.
4. My ZIPIT Monster Pencil Case that has been my backpack friend since undergrad!
5. My “personal” pouch that carries all the non-school stuff I need like my wallet, pads, headache medicine, birth control, hair ties, a microfiber cloths, house keys, random receipts, loose change that I really need to clean out, etc.
6. My weekly calendar (bought from a random store in Japantown, SF)
7. The cutest A5 notebook (bought from Daiso), filled with my weekly to-do lists

And of course, though not shown here I also cannot leave the house without my 13″ Macbook Air (usually transported in this laptop case) and charger, which honestly has also survived a hell of a lot this year, especially during my recent field work adventure.

Diving into a little deeper into my Pencil Case (which actually has no pencils, whatsoever) this is what I usually have on hand (as shown from left to right):

1.  0.5 mm Muji Retractable Pens (my absolute favorite pens!)
2. 0.38 mm Pilot Juice Pens (my second favorite pens!)
3. 0.5 mm Uni Jetstream
4. Zebra Z Grip Ballpoint Pen in Red and Purple (because I needed some color in my life)
5. A Black Sharpie
   

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So that about covers what I carry on a semi-day to day basis. I’d like to note that a lot of my stuff (like stationary, notebooks, etc) are usually kept in my office since I don’t want to be carrying an unnecessary amount when I walk/bike to work. I’ll be making a post next week showcasing all the fun stuff I keep in there, so stay tuned next week for a “What’s in my Office” post!

Hope you enjoyed!

PS: I am also taking requests for future blog posts, so feel free to send me a message on my contact page or send me a message on Tumblr! 😀 Please and thank you!