While most students still prefer to wear backpacks to class, many students decide to toss a tote bag over their shoulder instead. 

On a poll taken through this writer’s Instagram, 33% of respondents said they preferred a tote bag, while the other 77% said they wear a backpack to class. 

As more textbooks are used online, trends in bags could continue to show more tote bag users walking around campus. The lack in physical textbooks allows students to choose new ways to express their personal style.

“It’s cuter,” sophomore Bonnie Spann said. “I also love tote bags because I use it as a combination of a backpack, purse and just my go-to bag.”

Spann is an advertising major and said the lack of textbooks for her classes allows her to carry less in her tote bag. However, as seen in the poll results, many students still prefer using a backpack.

Sophomore Taylor Moore said she chooses to carry a backpack to class. 

“I need to carry a lot of different things, including some nursing tools,” Moore said. 

Moore said being a nursing major requires her to bring extra things to class, so it is helpful for her to have more space. In addition, Moore said wearing a backpack allows her to bike to her classes.

Many of the respondents who wear a backpack said their major requires them to bring many things to class, making it practicality a necessity. Like Moore, many students said they find their classes require more textbooks than others might. Freshman Libby Selvidge, a biomedical engineering major, said she has found a backpack to be the only option for her. She prefers her Herschel backpack due to the amount of books she carries to class.

“It is good to have a high quality backpack that won’t give me back problems in 10 years,” Selvidge said.

Another backpack user is senior Kaitlyn Francois. She said she chooses a backpack for the comfort, storage and versatility it offers.

“As someone who is constantly on the go, I have to think in advance,” Francois said. “In my backpack, I will hold a change of clothes and a meal sometimes.”

Tote bags and backpacks are useful in similar ways but can provide each person with preparedness for life’s adventures or style in the day-to-day. Whether you prefer the trendy tote or the practical pack, you can’t go wrong in your choice of bag.