Entering my junior year of college, I have officially made the transition from a large backpack to a new Longchamp as my everyday class bag. To some, this change may seem insignificant, but to me, a formerly loyal backpack user, it feels shocking.
Throughout elementary school, I carried an iconic pink and green Vera Bradley bag. Inside were little pencil case holders and various storage compartments, each filled with everything I could possibly need. The print was incredibly girly, and I even had the matching wallet and a larger bag that I would bring to sleepovers. To this day, I reminisce about my Vera Bradley era, which consisted of lunchboxes, pouches, keychains and blankets. My sister and I would share our Vera Bradley collections and always looked forward to shopping at the outlets, where we could find the best deals on bags in every unique pattern imaginable.
In middle school, I leveled up to an Under Armour backpack. It was teal blue, my favorite color at the time. I would wipe it down year after year, but no matter how clean I tried to keep it, the bottom was always filled with old gum wrappers, pencil shavings, and crushed-up pop quizzes that I never wanted to see again. It also contained an assortment of lip products, including Cherry ChapStick, Carmex, EOS and Burt’s Bees Pomegranate. It was a very spacious bag, which was necessary because it had to fit my school-issued Chromebook and its oversized case, my morning and afternoon binders and my compact pencil case.Â
Throughout most of high school, I used a North Face backpack. It was gray, and I vividly remember begging my mom to buy it for me at Dick’s Sporting Goods. There were so many different sizes and colors to choose from, but I ultimately settled on gray because I wanted something neutral. It was durable, simple and felt a little more grown-up.
Senior year was different. My friends and I all picked out inexpensive backpacks from Walmart. Most people aimed to find the funniest children’s backpack possible, choosing from designs featuring Peppa Pig, Disney princesses and My Little Pony. The backpacks were technically only supposed to be worn for the first week of school, but my butterfly-sequined one ended up staying with me for the entire year. It was the perfect size, came with a matching pencil pouch, and even had a butterfly fidget attached to it.
When I started college, I returned to North Face, this time using my sister’s old black backpack. It was sleek, simple and fit everything I needed for class. I thought I had finally found my forever school bag. Then came junior year.
For the past few weeks, I have been carrying a large brown Longchamp instead. My mom surprised me with it from Bloomingdale’s as a gift I could use not only for school but also when traveling abroad next semester. I previously had a small green Longchamp, which I still use all the time, but the larger brown one feels like a different chapter of my bag journey.
Brown is my favorite color, and it is the perfect neutral for fall. More importantly, it fits everything I need for a day of classes: my laptop, water bottle and chargers, along with two smaller pouches that hold my gum, pencils and AirPods. It also zips completely closed and is durable enough to survive whatever weather a New England fall decides to throw at me.
Switching from a backpack to a tote bag may not seem like a major life change, but after years of carrying the same style of bag, it feels like one. Looking back, each bag has reflected a different stage of my life. Now, my bags are smaller, simpler, and a little more grown-up. For now, I’m officially a tote bag girl.