School Girl

The only fun part of going back to school is the chance to go get some fresh school supplies! I'm the type of person that lingers in the stationery section of the supermarkets and drifts off to the school section when we go to an office supplies store for printer cartridges. It's easy for me to get carried away and I know a lot of people also don't like to do this and just dig around their couch for a pencil for the first day of school. Oh dear.

Shopping List

Whether you scribble some things down on a piece of scrap paper, printed out an orderly list, or received a supplies list from your school or teachers, a list is quite important when it comes to shopping for your school supplies. Sometimes, it might do to get basic things before school starts and then wait until after the first week of school to finish in order to see what your teachers want you to use for their classes (if they didn't give you a list before summer). Your list should include such things as:

Pencils, either a nice big box of wooden or, my favorite, 2 or 3 mechanical pencils and a few packs of "lead" refills. (Fact of the day: it's GRAPHITE!) Make sure these are the standard number 2 if you have to do the computer scan test forms.

Pens. Pencils are my personal favorite, but pens are necessary in some classes for essay writing and the like. Black and blue are the standards, but you can keep a red for corrections, and other fun colors for, well, fun!

Spiral notebooks and folders are a winning combination for note-centered or math courses that don't involve too many worksheets. I personally always used college-ruled and plastic folders because cardboard folders tend to break and get all iffy-looking by the end of the semester. If your class is going to require you being able to hold a lot of handouts from your teacher...

Binders and filler paper are the way to go. Most classes won't need anything bigger than a 1-inch, or 25 mm, unless they specifically request a larger one. If you get a binder, then dividers are also good, especially if you use one binder for more than one class. Dividers with pockets are really handy.

A bookbag is very important to have. Just as a reminder, it's better to have the backpack that goes on both shoulders than a messenger bag that you will likely carry on one shoulder for most of the school year unless you're alternating every day or something. Comfort and size are important, so padded shoulder straps and smaller pockets in the bag are some key features to look out for.

Student planners, aka agenda books, if your school doesn't distribute them, are really important when it comes to keeping track of assignments and extracurriculars and birthdays and the like. If your school does give each student one, you might like to get one anyway, because let's face it, some school planners are not very pretty or they don't help very much with assignment tracking. Some students like to just get small notebooks and date each page while others will get the weekly planners that have calendars and such.

These are the basics. Your teachers will tell you the other things you'll need for their class, like art supplies, locks for your lockers, gym bags, etc.
And depending on the type of person you are when it comes to studying and staying organized, you might like things like index cards, sticky notes, highlighters, etc.

One thing to remember is quality does count. While it's easy to get a lot of 5¢ paper folders, it might pay off to get a few sturdier plastic folders that you might even be able to use from year to year. I like mechanical pencils because they do last longer than wooden pencils (not to mention they write nicely and save trees).
But of course, don't forget to leave the office supply store feeling happy with what you've got. Go ahead and get the notebook with the adorable kitty on it or the feather pen if you want.

Happy shopping!

For myself, I don't really need to buy as many things for school anymore, because I already have most of them. Backpacks were important for me, until I found one that was so great three years ago, and I haven't changed it since. I usually only go to buy things that are missing, like if I need more pencils, or my binder is broken. It doesn't really matter for me whether I go to the supply store or the supermarket, I go wherever my aunt/mom takes me that year. I tend to like things that have unusual or artistic designs, but I do get things that are self designable sometimes. I've actually started to stick with plain things most of time, though, except for my notebooks. It's just that they're much more durable for school, but I do have a few prettily designed things, and I do get pretty designs for the things I use at home. I also love reading, so whenever I go shopping for anything, I always get more books, and sometimes I bring them to school with me for those times when there is nothing to do and too much boredom. One more important thing, if it's pretty, it doesn't always mean it will do what it needs to for you! I have discovered since I was little, so whenever I look at a pencil that looks pretty, I only take one to try before I buy more of it. (This goes for mechanical and normal pencils, pens, sharpeners, and erasers as well.) I do buy lots of art supplies, but I started to get those at an art shop most of the time, because the things there are much more useful. extremeness, 17 from Kuwait

Thanks to Amanda, 13, from the US, next week we will be discussing a very important part of many students' daily school lives - the locker. Essential for those who aren't allowed to carry their bags around from class to class or even just for those kids that have outrageously heavy books, it would be nice to have a little place to visit a few times a day that was nicely organized and decorated, wouldn't it?

Tell School Girl how you like to decorate your locker, whether with millions of magnets or pictures and posters. Do you have a shelf and maybe even a little light on the top? Maybe you do something that you think is really unique? And how do you cope with having a smaller locker when it comes to staying organized but still stylish? Submit your ideas to School Girl!