The newest walking trend at Williston may hurt your shoulders, but purses are in.
Many Williston students can be seen walking around with a variety of purses this year rather than backpacks. A wide selection of brands, colors and styles surround campus.
Last year, a small percentage of students could be seen wearing purses instead of backpacks. This year, there has been an overwhelming number of new bags going to and from classes. And yet some students are sticking with the traditional backpack.
Jillian Lavallee, a sophomore day student from Hatfield, Mass., wears a pink North Face backpack and says she would not change it because of the benefits it gives her as a day student, being able to pack athletic clothes in her bag.
“I can put more things in my backpack, especially as a day student,” she said. “There’s more compartments for different things. My whole life is in my backpack.”
Jillian wants to stay with her choice of her backpack because it’s not just about it being cute, she says it’s also about individuality.
“It’s going to become a trend and then everyone’s going to want to follow the trend and not be their own person,” Jillian Lavallee said.
Mia Shaw, a sophomore day student from Leverett, Mass., says that she would rather have a cuter bag than the benefits of a backpack. She wears a purse that can only carry the essentials she needs for school.
“[The purse] looks better, it looks better with my outfits, and I get a lot of compliments on my purse, but I don’t have as much room anymore and I can’t put clothes in my purse which isn’t the best,” she said.
Mia thinks the purse is worth the hassle.
“I sacrifice pain for the look,” she said.
Alice Brashares, a senior from Albany, Calif., who wears a purse to class, said she wears it because of the look it gives her over the comfort.
“For me, most of all, it’s a style thing, I just have a bag that I really like and so I want to bring to school, and I think it functions for me as well,” she said.
Alice, a resident of EMV, says she could see herself switching over to a backpack in the future.
“I can see myself in college when I’m just carrying a lot of stuff, it seems easier to have a backpack, and I also think I’m probably going to care less about how I look when I’m going to class every day,’’ she said.
Alice also thinks a purse could be in everyone’s budget if they look in the right places.
“The purse I wore last year, I think I thrifted it for literally 10 bucks, maybe 15 bucks,” she said.
The Michigan Daily, in an article posted Oct 21, 2024, wrote about the takeover of Longchamp purses on campuses and how they don’t cause issues for students.
“Totes have ample space and easy accessibility, all while looking fashionable,” they wrote. “There’s no need to sacrifice functionality and versatility when switching backpacks to totes.”
