Photo Credit: Lianna Enright ’24

Cait Smith ’24 holds onto her notebook with pride.

We all are guilty of carrying old school supplies year after year. Especially as the school year goes on, cleaning out our folders or backpacks isn’t very high on the priority list. We asked some Royals to dig into the endless abyss they like to call backpacks and show us their crusty school supplies that will probably last longer than them.

As much as we hate to admit it, even we are guilty of keeping school supplies for way too long. I (Cait Smith ’24) have carried the same black wide ruled composition book around since the 8th grade. This book is so old it’s from the pre-Covid era. I think it’s honestly a comfort item at this point. Most kids carry around their stuffed animal from their childhood; I carry around my wide ruled notebook.

I (Lianna Enright ’24) suffer deeply from hoarding school supplies because, contrary to popular opinion, I hate back to school shopping. I’ve been using the same folder since my sophomore year, and let’s just say it’s… noticeable. It’s ripped down the middle on both sides, and one of the pockets is open at the bottom. At this point, I don’t even know if it should be called a folder anymore.

Kit Hayward ’24 openly admits to carrying around her crusty school supplies since freshman year. After being asked  why she still hangs on to her gross glue stick and sketchy-looking scissors, she says, “They’ve helped me through some really dark times and a bunch of religion projects. It would feel wrong to replace them after all we have been through.”

Senior Lily Curtis still carries around her Rosary poppit from her shadow days. While rummaging through her backpack, she also found random photobooth pictures of fellow Royals not including herself. She also mentioned that she has never seen these girls before: “I think the pictures are from the RAD Winter Formal Dance, but I didn’t go to that, so I actually have no idea how they ended up in my backpack.”

Last but not least, Mandy Puga ’24 still carries around her plastic pencil case from the 2000s. It’s even decorated with the small happy face stickers your kindergarten teacher probably gave you when you were on your best behavior. She says, “Sometimes I get attached to objects from my childhood. Even though it’s musty and crusty it brings me joy, and I don’t want to throw it out.”

I think it’s clear that we all hold onto our school supplies for far too long and should clean out our backpacks much more often. However, if your crusty backpack holds things that truly make you happy, we won’t judge you (we might judge you a little bit).