Backpacks travel from class to class, from labs to studios. It is a mobile archive of routines and ideas. At the downtown campus, five students — journalism, pre-med, fashion, nursing, and pop music — gave us a peek inside their bags. It wasn’t just notebooks and tools, but unique stories about what it takes to chase a dream in each field.
Riley Mahony, a junior nursing student, keeps her backpack stocked with the tools she needs for clinicals. Butterfly IVs, rubber gloves, alcohol pads, and a blood pressure cuff are just a few of the items she uses regularly. For her, each item represents a step toward becoming a skilled and dependable healthcare professional.
“Clinical days remind me that every detail matters — from how you take a pulse to how you show up for your patients,” Mahony said. “Each of these tools help me do that.”
On the third floor of Fusion on First, Melissa Ramos, a senior studying fashion, carries her backpack into the studio, ready to bring her fashion visions to life. Alongside it, she holds her sewing kit — filled with measuring tapes, sewing pins and tracing wheels. With the help of these, her ideas become reality when they move from sketchbook pages to the cutting table.
“I think that I would be lost without my sketchbook. Even if they are just little designs, they guide everything I do,” Ramos said.
Maddie Brooks is a sophomore majoring in Medical Studies on the pre-med track. Her backpack is a mini science lab — filled with textbooks, a calculator, molecular models and anatomy coloring books that help her memorize every bone and muscle. On lab days, she never leaves without her essentials: a lab coat, a mask and a pair of protective goggles — tools for a future doctor in training.
“I can’t participate in my lab classes without my Personal Protective Equipment,” Brooks said. “It is good practice for when I’m actually in the field.”
Riley Blocker, a junior majoring in Popular Music and French, never leaves home without his sticker-covered laptop — a colorful reflection of his passion. His backpack is often accompanied by a guitar or mandolin, depending on the day, along with pages of sheet music. For Blocker, music isn't just a major — it's a community full of creativity and encouragement.
“Everyone here is a family. It’s a small industry and everyone has their own thing,” Blocker said.
Cheyla Daverman is a senior majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication. As a digital news reporter for Cronkite News and a videographer for class projects, her days are never the same — and neither is her backpack. It might be packed with black pens, SD cards, tangled cables, and a stack of half-filled notebooks. When she’s out capturing stories, she borrows gear from Cronkite’s equipment lab. Cameras, headphones and microphones transform her bag into a mobile newsroom.
“The most important thing is definitely my hard drive. It holds most of my work,” Daverman said. “Things I’ve done that I’m proud of, components that I can reuse, and the projects I’m currently working on. My career is summed up through my hard drive.”
Each backpack is an insight into the daily lives and responsibilities of students pursuing demanding, hands-on careers. From medical equipment and recording gear to sketchbooks and instruments, these items reflect not only their academic paths, but the commitment and preparation required in each field. What they carry isn’t just for class — it’s for the work they are already doing, and the professions they are steadily working toward.
Edited by Quinton Kendall, Matthew Marengo and Morgan Kubasko.
Reach the reporter at smschae4@asu.edu.
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