School Supplies Review

I thought I would do a follow up on which of the school supplies I bought at the beginning of the school year were useful and which weren't.

• eBags Router Wheeled Laptop Convertible: I used this bag everyday. It holds a lot: I could fit my laptop, two casebooks, assorted smaller supplements and my lunch bag in it along with all the necessary accessories. There are a lot of pockets and I used all of them. The pockets on either side of the retractable handle were good for an umbrella and my laptop power cord. The side pockets were good for water bottles or thermoses. The front pockets were good for organizing all the other miscellanea, like pens, highlighters, cellphone, etc. The bag rolls really smoothly, although towards the end of the year the wheels got a little noisier. The only problem I have with the bag is that it is pretty large and heavy. There are other bags that hold just as much that are not as big and heavy. However it has held up really well to daily use and still looks almost brand new.


• Elle Essentials - Christy Lunch Bag: I used this bag pretty much everyday as well. I could fit several gladware type containers in it for my lunch and snacks throughout the day. I like the way it looks, but this ended up not being at all important because I usually stuffed it into my backpack rather than carry it separately because the straps are not quite long enough to carry it over my shoulder. The shape of the bag worked well for being stuffed into my backpack because it is not very tall and fits in my bag on top of the books.


• Skullcandy Proletariat Noise Canceling Headphones: I didn't use these at all. They seemed a little too conspicuous and I usually didn't need to block out noise to study -- I can read cases with background noise. When I did need to block out some particularly loud or distracting conversations nearby I just used a pair of earbud headphones and some Brian Eno and that worked fine. I think these are probably best for listening to movies or music on an airplane.


• BookBuddy - Students Choice! BookStand-Snaps in a 3-Ring-Binder: I didn't use this either. Although it might have been better for my neck if I had, I need my book lying down flat so I can highlight it.


• Classic Collegiate Edition Weekly Wire Bound Planner - Aug 07 - Jul 08: This I used everyday. The weekly planner has just the right amount of space to keep track of classes and other appointments as well as to-dos. This was my main way of keeping track of reading and assignments as well as meetings and appointments. I still used my google calendar for appointments also, but having a paper planner is more useful when you are not constantly in front of a computer.


• Classic Julie Morgenstern Time Map: This was also pretty useful. I used it to create my weekly reading schedule for the semester, for example I would block out time to complete each reading assignment (for example on Thursday afternoon I had blocked out time to read for Tuesday and Wednesday's property class) and then each week I would refer to that schedule to fill in all my reading assignments. Of course a few weeks into the semester I didn't really need it anymore to figure out my schedule, but it was still useful to have just for planning purposes at the beginning of the semester.


• Sharpie Accent Retractable Highlighters Assorted 8 pack: These I used, but when they ran out I just bought standard yellow highlighters. I didn't need all those colors and even though they were retractable they ran out really fast. I still do occasionally use different color highlighters to highlight the case names in the notes or the name of the judge who wrote the opinion, depending on whether that's necessary for the particular class (It was mostly necessary in con law, not so much in the other classes), but for general highlighting I just use yellow.