Cat’s Out of the (Book) Bag

What single item in a Stuyvesant student’s backpack (excluding phone, keys, wallet, and laptop) would they choose to bring to school if the rest of its contents were off-limits?

“My peanut butter sandwich. If all else fails, I’ll never go hungry.” —Zahin Mahmood, senior

“A folder—I have one mega folder with 10 compartments.” —Leo Schneiderman, sophomore

“My graphing calculator, because I would go absolutely insane if I had to do any sort of math without [it]. It literally saves my life in chemistry and algebra.” —Vanessa Chen, sophomore

“I would bring my special pen, because it’s cute and really motivates me to study at school.” —Lucia Liu, sophomore 

“My Play-Doh, because it’s a special memento from my middle school art teacher.” —Tiffany Qu, freshman

“I would bring my hair serum. Frizzy hair ruins my whole day, so calming down my hair with my serum calms my spirit as well. Honestly, I’d rather forget my notebooks than my hair serum. It’s like magic in a bottle and I swear by it.” —Tenzin Lhamo, senior

“My AirPods, because I use [them] on my commute to and from school every day.” —Sophie Huang, freshman

“I’d bring my pencil case because I can always ask people for paper. Asking for pencils is more annoying than asking for paper, in my opinion.” —Arianne Hinds, freshman

“My folder with loose-leaf because I could use the loose-leaf for anything.” —Kirill Vesialou, junior 

“I would bring an umbrella because if it starts raining, I can’t borrow one from someone. Other school supplies like pens and pencils and paper, I can just ask someone or borrow one from school.” —Arpita Saha, junior

“My keychain! My friend gave it to me and it’s been dear to me ever since.” —Dylan Chin, junior

“I would bring my lunchbox. If I can’t bring my phone, I might as well find joy in actually eating lunch.” —Leanna Lin, sophomore

“I would bring my own eraser to school every day because I would be able to borrow every other school supply, such as paper, pencils, laptops, et cetera. A good eraser is the one thing that you can’t easily borrow or find, because usually everyone only brings one eraser or an eraser that isn’t so good. I also make mistakes a lot.” —Sarah Zou, freshman

“I would bring my iPad because you only specified no phone or computer, not my iPad.” —Rebekah Abraham, freshman

“My pencil case, since I always lose my pencils.” —Joseph Kim, junior

“I would bring my diary, since I love writing about things I see on a day-to-day basis and just journaling in general.” —Ayesha Talukder, sophomore 

“My gum, because it gives me something to focus on, especially when I’m taking a stressful test.” —Anna Gittardi, junior 

“Snacks, because I’m starving in school every day. If I don’t have my snacks, I’ll pass out.” —Priscilla Park, senior

“My binder, because it has all my notes.” —Madison Zhan, sophomore

“I would definitely bring my multicolored pens because they help me take really good notes and I could just ask others for paper.” —Polina Maller, senior

“My lunch bag, but before I go, I’m stuffing it with everything else. [It’s a] small bookbag.” —anonymous, junior 

“My water bottle, because it’s important to stay hydrated.” —Yarza Aung, junior

“Glasses. I do enjoy seeing.” —Jordan Leung, junior