My name is Jenny and I’m an elementary school principal by day. The above picture shows a variety of items I carry regularly with me in my bag. Each serves a specific purpose. The items include:

• My bag made from my grandfather’s old suits
• Wallet including identification, some cash, gift cards and a transit card
• School keys
• A reusable bag
• Cough lozenges
• A bandaid
• A jump drive
• A peppermint tea bag
• Hand sanitizer
• Contact solution
• Snacks, both a granola bar and a candy bar
• My iphone
• A pen from school with a stylus tip
• Chapstick
• A hair tie
• A business card
• Sanitary wipes from a restaurant
• Cabin keys
• An old shopping list

At first glance, I don’t think looking through my bag would tell a person a lot about me. Digging deeper into the texts of these items in my bag tells a story. The bag itself is made of my grandfather’s old suits and a leather jacket. It speaks to my love of family and holding onto memories of the past. My wallet holds identification with personal information telling who I am, how old, and my driver’s license would show I need to wear corrective lenses. I usually have an array of gift cards in my wallet. Sometimes writing of thanks can be found on the cards themselves. The gift cards are from students and families showing their appreciation. The transit card is interesting as I never use public transit in the town I live in. I keep the card in my wallet for my frequent trips to Vancouver where I almost exclusively use public transit.

The snacks, tea, contact solution, Band-Aid, cough lozenges, and hair tie are all personal care items. I am always hungry and looking for a snack. Not pictured is my tea mug which is also a regular item I carry. I have long hair that I usually wear down for work but pull up immediately after, so a hair tie is never far away. The pen, business card, and school keys are used regularly and all show the school name. The business card has more details about location and contact information. I give these cards out when people ask about our school but I also use them to enter into contests run by local businesses. School is a big part of my life.

The cabin keys represent an even bigger part of my life. We have a cabin about 2 hours away that we frequent regularly, the keys are always in my bag. The jump drive shows my reliance on digital files. I don’t use it as much as I once did now that I can save and access files online. The old shopping list should have been thrown away but was buried at the bottom of the bag. I still like to write my lists out on paper and have them handy to look at without having to turn my phone on. The phone represents a major form of my communication. I regularly text or speak to staff on the phone as well as texting my children or husband throughout the day. I use my phone to search for information on the internet, check and answer e-mails, and sometimes to even complete work for my courses. I rely on my phone as a major part of my communication system. English is the main language seen on all the items in my bag with French as the secondary language on the packaging. This tells of my reliance on the English language.

Text technologies have changed over the years. My bag would have looked different 15 or 20 years ago. I did not yet have a steady teaching contract so would not have had school keys, business cards or the pen! I may have had a jump drive as I was just finishing my education degree. I was busy with three young children and would have had different snacks, wipes, and diapers in my bag! My cell phone was used much differently 15 years ago as well being only for phone calls. I never carried hand sanitizer or reusable bags with me either. My wallet and the use of contact solution would be the only similar products. The most notable change from years ago would be the advancement of technology. My bag from prior years would have contained notebooks or other paper-based items.

An archaeologist looking through my bag in the future would recognize I have some environmentally friendly tendencies and possibly someone who leads a busy life (all those snacks). If able to access the contents of my phone they would piece together an individual who wears many hats and tends to many different relationships. They would also see the many ways text technologies are seen through the apps used to text (both sending words and pictures), document life (photographs and videos), entertain (Netflix, games, etc), connecting with others (WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, e-mails), navigation (maps and All Trails), and even banking and health insurance. This task made me so much more aware of the text technologies that I interact with daily and what they say about my life!