New York City is a hectic place, especially if you're an NYU student. From classes to part-time jobs to internships to extracurriculars, your bag is essentially what gets you through the day. We talked to four Odyssey content creators to find out what they carry, what they can't live without, and why it matters to sit down at the end of the day and write about it.
Amanda Choy
Hometown: Los Altos, CA (think coders and self-driving Google cars)
School/Major: Steinhardt 2018/MCC & Journalism
Item in your bag you can’t live without:
"I truly can’t live without my laptop and as much as I hate declaring that, I’ve definitely come to terms with it. Last year, I didn’t have my laptop for a week during midterms season and describing the ordeal as extremely stressful is a terrible understatement. On a more serious note, my laptop is where I can get creative. It’s where I edit, read, write, watch, and learn. I used to have a Totoro decal sticker on it, but its constant whisker loss led me to replace it with a skeleton biker dude. I guess he’s pretty cool, too!"
Best or worst thing about your bag: "The worst thing about my bag is that it can’t stand up on its own. It’s always flopping around and I have to lay it flat or lean it against something. Other than that, this bag is incredible for carrying an unimaginable amount of things! I’m not very picky with my bags. I save the fuss for my camera gear."
Most surprising item in your bag: "The most surprising item in my bag also happens to be one of my favorites. It’s a switchblade that this guy (who will go unnamed) gave to me as a random gift my freshman year. I was semi-joking about being really into knives and he had apparently overheard that in the halls. One day after class, he handed me the knife and it was love at first sight (I mean the knife of course). You’d fall in love too if you saw it. It’s this crazy, iridescent purple-green hue. On the surface, I come across as a lot more tame than I really am. My close friends all know that I’m a lover of all things aggressive and dangerous. The hell with diamonds...knives are a girl’s best friend."
Why you create for Odyssey: "I have something that I like to call my “perpetual creative itch.” Since my elementary school days, I have always been pulled by a great desire to make things. “Things” can be anything from short stories to photos and video. As a bumblin’ 20-year-old, things haven’t really changed. Odyssey lets me do my thing. It has made my life, college experience, and career path so much more dynamic and exciting. The teams I work with on both the editorial and video side of things are also very fun and engaging to work with. I find that there’s something beautiful and gratifying in working alongside other driven creatives."
Emily Harris
Hometown: Colts Neck, New Jersey
School/Major: CAS 2018 / Journalism and Politics
Item in your bag you can’t live without: "The only expensive piece of jewelry I own, my graduation ring- if it's not on my finger, it's in a secure pocket in my bag. I originally got this ring from my grandma on the day of my high school graduation in 2014. Unfortunately, it ended up falling off my right-hand ring finger into Palladium's trash chute from the 8th floor in October of my freshman year. I cried for hours until I eventually got the courage to call my mom and confess what stupidly happened. For my 19th birthday, I pushed aside wrapping paper and tape to find another blue sparkling ring inside. This time? I won't lose something so important, whether it was $20 or $200, it takes me back to that day when I was 18, surrounded by family and people who will love me no matter what. Even after a frantic phone call at 3 a.m. over a lost ring. In a busy, lonely city like New York, it's nice to have a constant reminder, a solid rock (literally), that I have someone who will support at my best and at my worst."
Best or worst thing about your bag: "The best thing? It's black. It's a structured tote. It has a good arm strap. It has hella pockets. It's versatile. I can bring this to my 7 a.m. yoga class, 9 a.m. political recitation or my friend's housewarming party on his roof. But, the main body of the bag is the worst thing about it. I'm also scared someone is going to reach in it and take my camera or wallet or spare change. Maybe I'm paranoid, but still."
Most surprising item in your bag: "I am so boringly average, so I guess the most surprising thing is a few pennies? Most of my friends don't have time for change. But for some reason, I'll forget my keys or credit card, but always have a rogue penny. Never helpful, but always there."
Why you create for Odyssey: "Writing is my day one. My best friend. The love of my life. My partner in crime. My number one babe. Waking up and sleeping through my early alarms only to trek to an 8 a.m. Spanish lecture and ending the day in a pencil skirt on the 38th floor in a midtown office building can get repetitive. And boring. And tiring. But even as heavy as my eyes will get and tired as my limbs will be, I'll always have the drive to think of a poetic sentence or a bouquet of words to scribble on a random receipt in my pocket or on top of a syllabus I haven't looked at yet. Odyssey gets that. It's about giving people from anywhere, from any background and current situation, a voice and platform to spew lovely words about anything that makes their hearts content. Writing is empowering and creating content for Odyssey makes me feel invincible."
Jessica Salomon
Hometown: Houston, TX
School/Major: Gallatin 2017/ The Performance of Identity
Item in your bag you can’t live without:
" God, I would die without my planner. I’m old-school, I write everything down, and I’m super busy, so the planner is a must-have. I wouldn’t know where I was going or who I was seeing without it."
Best or worst thing about your bag: "So this bag is super cute, but it’s really, really small. I’m usually the ‘packs-a-bag-to-last-15-hour-days’ kind of girl, and this bag definitely can’t do that. The tassel is fun though.”
Most surprising item in your bag: "I’m a dancer, so I’m always running to or from class. At any given time, I’ve got ballet shoes, socks, and an entire change of clothes shoved somewhere in my backpack."
Why you create for Odyssey: "I like to write. People keep reading my stuff, so apparently I’m pretty good at it, too."
Rachel A.G. Gilman
Hometown: Woodstock, New York
School/Major: Gallatin 2018
Item in your bag you can’t live without:
"My green Moleskine miniature notebook and my Uni-Ball UB-157 Rollerball Pen, also in green. Any idea I get pertaining to a story or a radio piece must be written down immediately before I lose it, so this rarely leaves my side. The pens I can only get in the U.K., which a friend of mine had to hear about after he borrowed one and lost it (though he did his best to search Manhattan for a replacement - #truefriend)."
Best or worst thing about your bag: "This bag - which I picked up in one of my favorite boutiques in Mystic, Connecticut - is a lovely color and can hold my gigantic laptop in addition to all of my usual junk. The only bummer is that not too long before these photos were taken it betrayed me and lost the Hillary Clinton pin I’d fastened to it that morning."
Most surprising item in your bag: “You can’t see this in the picture, but my wallet has more foreign currency in it than U.S. from my summer travels in France, England, and Scotland. It’s becoming a pain anytime I go anywhere that doesn’t take cards, but I was once told you have to keep a little on you to assure that you’ll be back soon.”
Why you create for Odyssey: “I love the diversity of content that I see my fellow creators putting out there. Anything for opinion pieces about current news events to where to get the best brunch around campus - pretty much everything I ever wanted to know or would like to discuss can be found somewhere in my community’s work.”
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