Have you ever been curious about what your classmate keeps in their backpack? Is it makeup? School supplies? Practice clothes? You can tell a lot about a person’s life and what they spend their day doing by looking inside their bag. No matter the grade, backpacks are always important to every student. To each student, their backpack holds all the tools they are going to need throughout their day.

“A binder, pencils, class work, my phone, earbuds, and food,” freshman Christina Manfredi said. “Food is important. My teachers give a medium amount of work so I need to keep my stuff organized.”

Freshmen tend to haul their over-packed backpacks everywhere, filled with every school supply sold at Office Depot. They carry each class’s binder or folder with sections dividers to stay organized. However, by senior year, all the binders and folders with pencils and highlighters turn into a binder with some paper and a pencil. Seniors like to keep it simple with only carrying the essentials they know they will need.

“I have my headphones, my phone, my wallet, my keys, my binder, my pen, paper, and whatever scrap piece of paper my teachers give me,” senior Jackson Seamens said.

However, not every upperclassman is equal. Some upperclassmen also tend to carry a lot of supplies as well. Some students have to carry a lot of school supplies because their teacher wants specific items every day for class. With AP and honor classes some general supplies are required and it adds up quickly for every class.

“I normally have a binder, my textbook, pencils/pens, highlighters, calculator, and food in my book bag,” junior Amanda VanAmburg said. “They are items I am going to need in every class.”

Students who take high-level classes are not the only ones walking around campus with a lot to carry. Many athletes carry two bags every day. One bag consists of their school supplies while the other bag carries practice clothes, cleats, and deodorant.

“I have a change of clothes, running shoes, an extra pair of socks, and spikes in my bag,” freshman Benjamin Parry said. “I can’t run in khakis and a polo or just normal shoes.”

Obviously, you can’t just randomly open someone’s bag when you want to get to know them but seeing what someone carries can help you understand who they are and what they do on a daily basis. After looking at the contents of these student’s bag, you can get to know them a little better. No two students bags are similar, as you can see from Seaman’s single binder and Parry’s huge track bag. Maybe take a look at your own bag and you can see how others view you from your bag. It wouldn’t hurt to try.