Task 7: Mode-bending
Hello and welcome to Going Google with Miss Guevara! For some background information, this was the name of my YouTube videos during Remote Learning last year, when COVID first hit. It was my whole “brand” so to speak and how I would recap the craziness of the prior week and introduce the weekly activities for my students. It was a time. So I have continued to use the name every once a while, for assignments throughout the MET program.
In this week’s episode, I will be describing what was in my bag, 10 years ago. I have chosen to deliver it primarily by audio, aka a podcast; considering my first mode of delivery was audio-visual, emulating a What’s in Your Bag video on YouTube, where celebrities show and describe the contents of their bag. However, I have also included the transcript for my podcast as well. So, sit back, listen and enjoy!
As mentioned, I have chosen to redesign this assignment by describing what would have been in my bag 10 years ago. 10 years ago, I was in my early years of university at UBC. At first, my bag was this patterned, green and purple shoulder bag, given to me by my sister. She had just come back from completing her Masters in Australia and she brought this home for me, and that’s what I had used to carry my school contents. However, the bag I most associate my university life with is my purple JanSport backpack. I still have this backpack to this day and use it when I travel or for more active field trips with my students, like Walkathon or going on Outdoor Ed. It’s an oldie but a goodie. I think the Gen Z kids would come at me for using it because it’s probably much cooler to use a Fjällräven backpack at this rate; but is that even still cool? Is there something else? Couldn’t tell you!
Inside my bag, was this light teal UBC clipboard folder, which I still have to this day and use every once in a while. It held lined paper and my courses’ syllabi. It was my preferred way of taking notes in class and I tended to remember more when writing things down because I was working harder to synthesis, shorten and write information taught in lectures. It was my attempt at making sure I paid attention to the professors, because I wouldn’t be checking my phone or scrolling online. My JanSport also has a compartment at the back of the backpack, so I could easily fit and locate this clipboard folder.
I also carried with me my daily calendar notebook. It was a simple, coiled, black notebook from Staples that I bought every year during uni. I suppose it was residual practice from high school, writing in my agenda every day. It was more a task list of what I should finish that day, and I made use of the monthly calendar in it as well. I suppose this is why I was initially interested and use a Bullet Journal to this day. So Google Bullet Journal if you are really into organizing and writing lists and want that little of aesthetic.
Most days, I also had my small Acer laptop (woo Acer!) I also still own this, to this day. It still functions but is slow and generally needs to be plugged in to work. It was actually a birthday gift from my family before I started university. And bless my techy brother who found me a no-nonsense, capable computer that was small and light enough for me to bring around campus. It had a custom, purple case. It was nice too! Not one of those zip up ones, but it had nice padding, and a flap with wooden buttons to close it up! My laptop was a strange size so there were no cases for it, so my brother’s girlfriend, at the time, asked a friend of hers to make one for me.
I think also sometimes carried my iPad with me instead of my laptop. Not always to do work, but to scroll online or watch something in between classes. I suppose the days I carried my iPad around were days I didn’t feel like doing too much work or knew I wasn’t going to be on campus long and would just use the iPad to pass some time. It also had a purple case (can you tell I like purple?) that folded and it helped prop the iPad up on the table. It was certainly helpful to have my iPad on days when I left my phone at home, which was not that often, but I was able to send messages from it. Back then, there was no WhatsApp or Viber to use and therefore no apps on my Acer computer to message from. I suppose I could have used email, but iMessage from my iPad was much quicker.
Much like my present-day self I carried a small “just in case” purse. I can’t recall which one I may have used, or if at all. I just know that I used the front pocket of my backpack to carry a mechanical and wooden pencil, at least two pens, an eraser and a ruler, I think. Maybe not the ruler. I don’t think I had a pencil case, because I wanted to limit the amount of stuff I had to carry with me. And I did a lot more travelling between buildings in my undergraduate days than I do now, so that’s probably why I now carry more things, presentl! I also almost always had tissue, and gum and an extra pad or two in the zipper of that front pocket. And, similar to present-day Clarissa, I always had my electronic items, chargers; for my laptop/iPad and phone, and earphones. I listened to music on the bus and my 45-minute bus rides between home and school was my time to really relax and usually take a nap. So, it was important for me to have music playing; to get into the zone and chill out before having to go to work, volunteer, see some friends or study somewhere else. I also made sure to have earphones so that I could listen to music or watch a video while sitting in the library or the UBC SUB. Ah the SUB, a faint memory. Anyway!
I think the last main thing I carried around with me would’ve been my lunch bag and water bottle. During my undergrad, I worked at a store called Smart Set and the shopping bags were reusable bags. I would just use those bags as my lunch bag. And I was able to fit it and fold it easily into my backpack. Nothing fancy, just handy and practical. And I had so many of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if I still have some lying around. They eventually wore out or gotten torn from folding, water damage or any other external element.
And I think that’s it! That’s What’s in My Bag, 10 years ago edition! I hope you enjoyed and come back next week for What’s in My Bag, 20 years from now; where I predict, I won’t even be carrying a bag due to pure laziness and a robot carrying it around for me. Bye!
For comparison sake, I have added the transcript from my original What’s in Your Bag video. I had posted my video on YouTube and used that link to hand in my assignment. But YouTube has the excellent “Open Transcript” feature that shows the full transcript and timestamps of the dialogue. It is fascinating to see the difference between the two What’s in My Bag assignments.
First, just the number of items in there, and therefore the length of the video vs. podcast. I’m sure there are seemingly less items in my undergrad backpack simply due to memory; I cannot recall every item I carried with me. It was a different experience to describe from memory rather than emptying the current contents of my work tote and explaining them.
Moreover, it was a refreshing practice in reflection, and going down memory lane, of the type of items I carried with me; thinking about the priority and necessity of items. Out of practicality, I carried less items 10 years ago because I moved around from place to place, building to building, much more than I do now. That, or I travel via car more now than I did during my undergraduate years. I’m also inclined to think I carry more items because as I became more responsible for various things I started to carry more things that were related to that. Or perhaps, I found use for more items because they came in handy in certain situations and now have a broader spectrum of “just in case” items.
Regardless, I enjoyed doing this assignment from this “10 years ago perspective”. It was truly intriguing to see the similarities and difference between my past and present self.
Transcript from Original What’s In My Bag
hello
00:05
welcome to my what’s in my bag video
00:07
this will actually function very much
00:09
like a what’s in your bag video that you
00:12
see on youtube i actually watch quite a
00:15
few of those because
00:17
i’m so interested in what people have in
00:20
their bag i don’t know why i think i
00:23
find some sense of
00:25
normalcy when i see a celebrity talk
00:28
about what’s in their bag um and
00:31
it’s nice to find something relatable
00:33
about them so i suppose
00:35
i think this is why i chose this medium
00:37
as well to
00:38
present my assignment so this is my bag
00:42
this is my work my work bag it’s a bag
00:46
my mother gave to me uh for christmas i
00:49
believe and it’s got lots of pockets
00:51
it’s actually currently empty because
00:52
i’ve taken everything out to
00:56
explain but there’s lots of compartments
00:58
and i love
01:00
compartments so that’s my bag so first
01:02
and foremost in my bag is my two wallets
01:07
i also think it’s quite insane when i
01:11
realize how much stuff i can actually
01:14
fit into a purse well i suppose it’s
01:16
it’s a tote it’s a work tote but uh
01:19
quite large at the end of the day um
01:22
this is my regular wallet that has my
01:24
regular cards and driver’s license and
01:28
like bits of coins um i generally don’t
01:31
take a purse around with me
01:34
when i
01:35
go to like the store or something
01:37
sometimes i do but often if i’m coming
01:39
from work i’ll take this wallet out and
01:41
stick it in my pocket so that’s actually
01:43
why i have a really small um wallet with
01:45
me but then i have this guy
01:48
very thin as well but it actually holds
01:52
my coupon
01:55
cards not my coupon cards like my
01:58
my like stamp cards and any gift cards
02:02
and like my really old library card but
02:06
those are my two wallets i also have in
02:08
here uh very much a sign of the times i
02:12
have
02:14
masks like four disposable ones they
02:17
generally function as backups to when
02:19
i’m wearing the cloth ones but i
02:21
actually wear these ones at work because
02:24
i have to wear a mask
02:26
the entire time while i’m teaching so
02:29
it’s a lot easier to teach in a
02:31
disposable mask so i have some extras in
02:33
my purse even though
02:35
i have some at work that i just
02:38
whip out and use i also have a nice mask
02:41
chain that goes along with it that also
02:44
functions in the same way convenience
02:46
sake all of that just because i take it
02:49
on off just if i’m a little bit farther
02:51
away from students or if i need a second
02:54
to just breathe with that mess some
02:56
other items in my purse that are
02:59
somewhat just my personality but also
03:03
sign of the times is
03:05
sanitizer my sister-in-law gave me this
03:08
cute little thing that hangs in my purse
03:11
um that i actually don’t use very much
03:12
because i have sanitizer at work and i’m
03:16
at work most of the day anyway but this
03:19
is to have backup but also things that i
03:23
have i’ve always had mints in my purse
03:25
but um i generally
03:28
like to try to have mints just in case i
03:30
can’t access my
03:32
toothbrush and toothpaste i carry i
03:34
started carrying this around in my purse
03:38
to work because
03:40
after lunch and
03:42
when you eat you got to put a mask back
03:44
on
03:45
you don’t like the smell and i would
03:47
have to wear it and
03:48
and i couldn’t i couldn’t not wear it
03:50
when i was at work and i just couldn’t
03:53
stand the smell of my lunch in my mouth
03:55
so i started to brush my teeth after i
03:58
ate another thing that i have in my
04:00
purse that i don’t really
04:03
use that much but i like to have anyway
04:05
just in case is fisherman’s friends
04:08
again
04:09
i teach and i talk all day sometimes you
04:12
need one of these bad boys to help you
04:14
get through i know this a lot about
04:16
myself but i have a lot of purses in
04:19
purses often because people give me
04:21
little purses and
04:23
i try to see if i have a purpose for
04:25
them and try to use them other than just
04:28
giving them away or donating them
04:30
because sometimes
04:32
it’s from someone who i appreciate a lot
04:35
and i would like to use it um so i do
04:37
have this other little purse
04:39
that
04:40
has cords
04:43
it’s got cords in there i have a charger
04:46
i’ve got earphones i’ve got
04:48
um a little wall plug
04:52
anything that has to do with like
04:54
electronic type thing so a little cloth
04:57
um a little charger for the
05:00
for the charger
05:02
um and then i also and it’s not actually
05:04
in there and i don’t know why
05:06
um but i have an adapter or not adapter
05:11
yes well an auxiliary cord plus an
05:13
adapter i think this is this comes from
05:15
being a teacher when you need to plug
05:18
into sound and you have you find a big
05:21
speaker and you need it so that the kids
05:23
can hear um and it’s come in handy a few
05:26
times um
05:27
and that’s just part of the somewhat
05:30
techy side of me because my brother my
05:33
brother is in i.t and it’s
05:35
come through by osmosis and i tend to
05:38
carry around somewhat techy stuff i’m
05:41
finding out and i did know this about
05:43
myself but
05:44
i have a lot of things as backup things
05:47
that i don’t necessarily use all the
05:49
time but it’s in my work purse or it
05:51
will be transferred into a smaller purse
05:54
in case i need it one of those things
05:56
there’s another little bag here guessed
05:58
it this one says providence healthcare
06:00
because my mother actually works for
06:02
providence healthcare she is a nurse
06:04
educator and i somehow attained this
06:07
purse from her little teeny thing it’s
06:09
very small but also fits lots of things
06:12
i have band-aids in there i have
06:16
alcohol wipes i have a nail clipper hair
06:20
ties bobby pins i also have
06:24
um an extra set of contacts in case i
06:26
ever need it
06:28
and then
06:30
i guess in the same vein as that i have
06:32
a little pill case and it’s not even for
06:34
prescribed pills it is like cyanotab
06:37
tums
06:38
um
06:40
tylenol anything and it’s come in handy
06:42
when you’re at work and you just kind of
06:44
need it another tiny little purse that
06:47
fits in my bag
06:49
i kind of forgot this was in there but
06:52
um i know that it will come in handy
06:55
again it’s extra things that i should
06:58
probably not carry anymore but it is in
07:01
my purse in case i need it
07:04
so
07:04
in it i have some
07:07
contact lens droppers so in case your
07:10
eyes get dry
07:11
i have
07:12
lip balm and i’m not very much a lip
07:15
balm user but i have it anyway i have a
07:18
stress release rollerball that a friend
07:20
gave me i have
07:23
floss
07:25
i also have and i can’t believe i carry
07:28
this with me to work they have half a
07:30
comb because the other half is broke and
07:32
the other half stays at home um and the
07:34
other one is
07:35
this is a bottle opener it’s actually
07:37
come in handy a few times um
07:40
yeah it kind of goes like this
07:42
and it becomes a manual bottle holder
07:45
and then i also have scissors tiny tiny
07:47
scissors this also comes from my mom who
07:51
has so many of these small
07:54
gauze
07:55
cutters really from work and then we
07:58
just have a bunch of them and now i use
07:59
them as like teeny little scissor things
08:01
a few paper items in my purse i actually
08:04
have my eye prescription in here there
08:06
have been a few times when it was handy
08:09
as well
08:10
i went to the eye doctor and i put it in
08:13
my purse once and then i automatically
08:16
went to go get my or i automatically
08:18
immediately immediately went to go get
08:21
my prescription filled and so
08:24
i just left it in my purse and then one
08:26
day i actually forgot my contacts and i
08:29
was staying somewhere and it was really
08:31
handy to run to a walmart and just
08:34
give my prescription
08:36
um another thing in here a subway coupon
08:40
um a co-worker gave it to me and it’s
08:42
actually very handy for when you forget
08:43
your lunch and i have a blends coffee
08:48
um holder i got this tip from a friend
08:50
sometimes drinks are just a little too
08:51
hot it’s actually very handy to have one
08:53
it’s very flat
08:54
um and then i also have oh not one but
08:58
three
09:00
post-it notes that are
09:02
again didn’t realize i had them should
09:04
probably get rid of a few i’m doing some
09:06
at work the next items that i have are
09:09
very carefully chosen
09:11
writing utensils there’s six
09:14
um i have two pens because in case one
09:17
runs out i have an extra i have a
09:19
mechanical pencil because you never know
09:21
when you’re gonna need a pencil and not
09:24
a pen or in case the pen runs out and
09:25
that’s all you’ve got
09:27
i also have a red pen
09:30
just in case i need to mark something or
09:33
need a different color
09:34
and then i have two markers a
09:36
highlighter and a sharpie because
09:38
sharpies are handy in general and then
09:41
marker or highlighters are also handy
09:43
for highlighting things all of these
09:45
function very much so
09:47
um
09:48
as my teacher and my grad student
09:53
lens and hat um i use them in terms of
09:56
when i’m reading readings for school or
09:59
if i’m marking things for work and
10:03
um it’s very handy to have when you just
10:05
go somewhere after work and you need to
10:08
study or do a little bit of
10:10
teacher work and last and but not least
10:13
my work keys i have a lot of key chains
10:16
let’s be real here
10:18
partially because kids give you
10:20
keychains or parents give you keychains
10:22
as a teacher so you try to like put it
10:26
on to be to show the kids like look i’m
10:28
using the keychain that you picked out
10:30
for me
10:31
some of them have not made the cut but
10:33
that’s okay
10:34
um i do have this one from my former
10:37
teaching partner that says mr barra on
10:39
it and it’s very cute and it has a
10:40
lanyard lanyards are very useful for
10:43
teachers to help us find our keys i
10:45
actually don’t wear it around my neck
10:47
that often
10:48
but it’s helpful for when you’re looking
10:50
for the keys because they’re giant and
10:52
yeah and i also have a whistle
10:54
because at work
10:56
sometimes you need to use it to call the
10:58
kids over from recess or
11:00
whatever large space you’re in or just
11:03
to uh
11:05
speak over them if you don’t have enough
11:07
of a voice but
11:09
that’s what’s in my bag
11:12
[Music]
11:17