This is the contents of my work bag.

This is me last year in China. Doing what I do best – travelling around and soaking up culture.

I started my journey with UBC in January of this year. This will be the second course I take in the MET program. It’s been exciting and daunting to return to school, but I’m excited to be here learning about something I’m passionate about.

My work bag is used daily. Without the items in this bag, I wouldn’t be able to do my jobs. Prior to the 3rd week of March when our world turned upside-down due to COVID 19, I would head out of my townhouse everyday and go to work with this bag in tow. I work from anywhere, so the scenery and my work environment tend to change daily. You’ll find me working all over the place, but I can be found most in a few of my favorite spots on the campus where I teach or in my office at the community arts organization I manage.

I feel like the contents of my bag are pretty normal of someone who is somewhat of a digital nomad and has the flexibly to work from anywhere. As I looked at the contents of my bag, I felt like everything had a purpose and may tell others a little bit about me.

In my work bag, you will find:

• Pencil Case with loads of coloured pens, highlighters, notepad, and whiteout (maybe more than I should be carrying around)
• My wallet or sometimes just cash or a debit card and driver’s license (this depends on how full my bag is getting and what my plans are after work)
• Car keys
• Phone
• Lipstick
• Burt’s Bee’s Lip Balm
• Gum
• Hair tie and hair clip
• Dental floss
• Tylenol
• Glasses and glasses case
• Laptop (or sometimes iPad)
• Notebook
• Yeti filled with Ice Water
• Snack
• Swipe card and classroom keys
• USB
• Charger
• Headphones

Certainly, not all of the items are used to perform my jobs. I really only use my laptop, phone, a notepad, stationary supplies in my pencil case, headphones, USB, swipe card/classroom keys, and my glasses to perform both of my jobs. The other items in my bag are personal would probably be carried in my purse or tucked into a desk drawer if I didn’t have multiple jobs that I traveled back and forth to.

I feel like many of the items in my bag may be considered “texts”. My laptop, phone, and notebook are communication tools that I use daily; my laptop and phone can be used to communicate in multiple languages and they allow me to work remotely. I create digital texts on my phone and laptop daily, but I’m a list maker and wouldn’t be able live without a notepad and post it notes. Many of the items in my bag have text on them. Marketing and branding information, text in more than one language especially English and French given Canada is bilingual country, and my glasses case may have translated Spanish text, as the name on my glasses case doesn’t translate to mean anything in English… or maybe, it’s just a brand of glasses that are made in Barcelona.

I’m not sure that anything in my bag speaks to the literacies I have, with the exception of the technology in my bag. This may speak to my digital literacy skills; I’ve created a work environment for my self where I can login to work from anywhere. Based on the contents of my bag, someone looking at the contents may also say I live in an English-speaking country. But I don’t feel my bag speaks to any of the language literacies I’ve been exposed to.

I believe my outward image and the contents of my bag are aligned perfectly. I can be a bit of a workaholic; it’s probably not coincidental that I’m writing about my work bag. I don’t believe that the contents of my work bag show a true picture of me – I also like to have fun.

If someone looked at my bag 25 years ago, I think they would be amazed at how technology has evolved and how a productive work environment can look so different than what the norm was then. If an archaeologist examined the contents of my bag, I think they may conclude it belonged to a student or professional. I believe the contents are pretty standard for any working professional today.