OSU students share what essential items are kept in their bags to both enable success and keep them sane through college. Take notes!

Carly: Civil Engineering

“Some of the stuff that I have with me right now is my computer. I take that with me wherever I go to always work on homework, so I have my charger for it and my mouse. And then I have an array of changers and stuff for my phone and all my other electronics. I have my textbook…and I have my engineering paper for my engineering classes, my wallet, always need to have that. I have my umbrella because you never know when it’s gonna rain. I have three calculators and a lot of people are like ‘why do you have three calculators?’. One of them I need specifically for chemistry, one of them is a backup in case something happens to the other one and one of them I use for my engineering classes. I have a lint roller because I’m kind of OCD…and my bandaids and first aid stuff.”

Alex: Education and English

“I have all my notebooks here full of short stories for my writing class…it’s probably got twenty short stories that we’ve read this term. I have my daily writing notebook which has writing from almost everyday of the last term with writing exercises for that class as well. I have a couple books, one that I’m reading for an english class, one for the writing class. My black notebook is for my extra notes and that kind of thing and I keep kind of a daily planner going in that. I have a pair of socks, if I need a pair of socks and my wallet and my binder that has all my papers.”

Marianne: Marine Biology

“All of my stuff is stuff that I pretty much need everyday. My planner is my life and thus all of the crazy pens. And that’s pretty much it.”

Evita: Bio Health Sciences with Pharmacy option

“This is my stuff! I had two classes today so I had chem and computer science and my nice calculator, TI-84, pretty nice. I’ve got a planner, a folder that says ‘College of Pharmacy’, my wallet, some water, glasses case, it’s pretty cool! I’ve got my laptop and that’s pretty much it.”

Emma: Political Science

“As you can see, I don’t like to travel light. I don’t have any notebooks because I don’t like taking handwritten notes, but I do have three pens so that makes a lot of sense. I’ve got my laptop and my charger to do everything on. I have this little pocket constitution, one of my professors gave it to me- I never travel without it! Also the Communist Manifesto for a little diversity of opinion in there. I’ve got my wallet, my lunch, a little hat to keep warm, my keys and a pin that says ‘VOTE’ that’s been in my backpack recently but not on it for no particular reason.”

Sean: Speech Communications

“Inside my bag I always keep my laptop, my charger and my mouse, in case I have to do work. I run the social media accounts for KBVR fm, but it’s also just easier for me to work with a mouse. On a similar note I always carry around a water bottle and my planner, I am one to forget things if I don’t write it down, so I have a planner just to make sure of that. I also keep around my gigabyte hard drive full of all of my own mediums and creations so that if I again get inspired at some point in time I have something to back it up on to. I also network all the time so I carry around my own little case of my own little branded cards. A lot of the rest of this is basic school stuff. Notebooks, pencils, I do always carry around a toothbrush and toothpaste just in case I am running very late in the morning.”

Madison: New Media Communications

“What is in my bag right now is a couple of books that I’m reading for class and reading for life, two planners, an ipad, because I don’t actually like to carry around a lot of books, I like to read them on there. I have water because I’m always dehydrated, hats because I’m always cold, tampons because I have a period and Lactaid because I’m lactose intolerant.”

Natalie: Graphic Design

“I think it’s pretty evident about the stuff I’m carrying… I really like having nice looking things because I’m more likely to use them if they remind or inspire me. So I have lots of magazines that I carry around to pop out and read or be inspired by them. I also carry some necessities like chapstick, altoids, tea, a snack, my keys, and of course my Macbook that I could not live without! I’m on it probably like 90% of my life.”

Zack: Natural Resources

“Some of the stuff I have in my bag are water bottles ‘cause you gotta be hydrated. I have my five-subject notebook because I have lots of subjects. I carry around my first-aid kit because you never know, same with my Leatherman because you always have to be prepared. Writing utensils and a nice, wholesome snack rounds it out.”

Isabel: Ethnic Studies and Education

“So what I have in my backpack is my laptop which contains all of my essays for my ethnic studies classes… I have a lot of textbook material in here, my planner which is my main source to go to because I have a lot of things going on… I have one of my journals for one of my classes which has my name and preferred pronouns. I like to always carry my water bottle because I like to stay hydrated and I’m always on the go- and water is probably one of the best things I should be drinking. I like to carry a snack- all I have right now is a banana. My wallet- which contains my id, my osu id… My folder which contains a lot of paperwork because I’m a visual learner so I need a lot of documents and paper. I also carry my phone because when I walk around campus I like to listen to music and that’s what kind of keeps me going!”

Moshe: Religious Studies

“In my bag I have my Brandeis Modern Hebrew Book, for my Hebrew class. And then my notebook with a tiger on it and the Sacred and the Profane- which I cite a lot in my classes, it’s not a required reading for any of them but I really like it so I always pretty much keep it on hand. And I’ve got my glasses case, for my glasses, and my pencils, my gloves, ‘cause it’s cold and a toothbrush because it’s good to be clean!”