My backpack is a jarring sight to most people. It strikes sadness in most of my teachers’ hearts and crushes the people who care about organization. However, I choose to keep my backpack this way for a few reasons all related to the ease of the maneuver.

I have people constantly ask me if I want them to clean out and organize my backpack. My answer is always no, my system works for me and people don’t need to go out of their way. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it– or something like that.

I mentioned earlier that I keep my bag this way out of ease, I assure you, there is no easier way to keep a bag. I don’t use folders, I have one binder, that’s it. Things can get lost pretty easily but that’s only if you don’t have a system as flawless as mine.

When I say flawless, I mean pristine for papers that are needed a maximum of one day later. If they are due in a few weeks, then the original is long gone and left to swim in a sea of looseleaf papers for eternity. However, if it is due in one day or less then it will be located in either the front grouping or the back grouping.

There is no distinction between the grouping; one is in front of my chromebook and the other is located behind it. When I need to find a worksheet then I casually search each grouping and it is bound to turn up.

Having my backpack like this has a number of unintended advantages. When I turn in a crumpled piece of paper that looks terrible it obviously is reflective of my hard work, and its poor quality shows how much I loved working on it. Another advantage is the walk down memory lane that I get to engage in when looking for a paper and then find my math homework from six months ago.

The chronologically, disorganized nature of my system leads to a mini time capsule in my backpack, which not everyone can say about their bag. I wish I could change my bag but every cleaning session leads to me crying about all the memories I am throwing away. Then again those tears could also be from the effort that I am putting into cleaning it.

My bag says a lot about not judging a book by its cover. In the halls, I consistently see the gray Jansport model that I currently use and smile to myself knowing that my bag is probably more “unique” than theirs. However, you could not tell by looking at me, so maybe I shouldn’t think the same thing about them.