What’s in my Backpack?

What you bring to school is important. Everyone brings what they need to survive the daily life as a law student. If you follow my twitter, then you’ll know that I love school supplies. School supply shopping is one of my favorite things to do. My mom always says that I buy too much, but I end up using them all even when I least expect it.

Casebooks

The first thing in my backpack that I MAKE SURE that I have are my casebooks for the day. I use technology to a certain extent, but I am one of those people who love to feel a casebook and make highlights on the actual page. The casebook is what I use to follow along in class. If I don’t have my casebook, then it could be hard to follow along. It could also be challenging if I wanted to point out a specific fact from the case. 

Another thing great thing about carrying around your casebook is that you can get ahead on reading if you’re on campus and have a few moments between classes or if you stay after your last class.

A negative that I have heard and completely understand is that our casebooks are heavy. So, to carry them on your back may be a disadvantage to bringing them to campus.

Paper-Mate Ink Joy Pens

I love my Paper-Mate Ink Joy pens! They are my favorite pens to use especially when studying for finals considering that I write out my outlines (stay tuned for my next blog on how I study for finals). They are great to write on and do not smear when writing. Only negative to this is that the ink runs out quickly, so I carry other pens with me as well. 

I carry around cheap pens that will get me through the day and do not run out quickly. I also carry pencils. I hardly ever use pencils, but to me, there is never enough school supplies that you can bring with you.

Notebooks

Yes, I am old school. I love writing things down in a notebook. I remember prior to my first day someone asked me “why are you getting a notebook?” In my Alma Mater most classes didn’t allow people to take notes on their laptop, so this question was at first odd to me because I thought everyone would have notebooks. This is all I have ever known.

Writing out the notes work best for me because I can get down all the information in no particular order and get home to type them and put them in order to make sense for my notes. This method is tedious, but it is worth it because it allows me to see the material more than once. I can also write faster than I can type, so whatever the professor said I can keep up even if they talk fast better when I am writing it. 

Extra Pair of Clothes

Sometimes I can have extra clothes  or shoes with me because there will be days that you have to dress up but you don’t want to be dressed up the whole day. Heels and I have a love-hate relationship. I think they are so cute, but they hurt really bad. So, often when I have an extra pair of clothes or shoes it could be because I had an oral argument, an interview or mock interview and will likely change after. 

Electronics

This semester I have carried my laptop, laptop charger, and iPhone charger more because I have been staying on campus to do work more than last semester. I have not been going straight-home lately. You can take your laptop to take notes, to job search on your down time, and many other things. You never know if your phone or laptop will die, so it is best if you take the chargers with you just in case you are out later than what you anticipated for various reasons.

Planner

I am a Type A personality and love scheduling and carrying around my day planner. Having my planner on me allows me to look at what is going on for the day. It serves as a reminder of what I need to do, so that I don’t forget anything. It is also nice to have because someone could try and schedule something with you and it will come in handy to know your availability in that moment rather than having to tell them later.

I have forgotten my planner and had people try to schedule stuff with me, but I couldn’t answer in that moment because I wanted to make sure that I was available during the time that we schedule.

Water Bottle

A water bottle is a great thing to keep on you. It is important to keep yourself hydrated and healthy.

Other

There are a variety of things that you can have in your bag. It is all dependent on what your schedules makes you have for the day. I know people who pack a lunch, bring medicine, or bring less stuff than what I do.

Side-note, one time I was in such a rush to leave the house and I left without ANY of my casebooks and without my phone and wallet! Yup! I only had my notebooks and that was it! I was freaking out because I didn’t want to get cold called on when I didn’t have my casebook with me. Everything ended up fine, but I was more scared not having my casebook readily available in anticipation that I may get called on. 

Make sure you leave the house having everything you need. This could also be a great thing to pack your bag/backpack the night before. I try to pack everything I need the night before, so even if I am in a rush I can still leave on time with everything on me!