Back to School | Grad School Edition

It’s that time of year again..!

The only difference is this time I will be starting graduate school! I always knew I wanted to get a master’s degree, but it was until recently that I landed on the specifics of what I would study. This fall I am starting my MBA with a Data Analytics track and I am so excited to learn this field and get to combine this with what I learned in my undergraduate classes.

That being said, last time I seriously went school supplies shopping was my sophomore year of university. By now, my backpack has a lot of wear and tear and I don’t have any supplies that I used to take with me to classes – especially now that it has been a year since I graduated.

So, I decided to use this as an excuse to get cute school supplies and items to motivate this new step in my life – and I want to share what I got with you! If you are also going back to school (whether it be grad school or another level), you can use these ideas as inspiration to finding your own supplies that show your style and motivate you to finish all those assignments!

Backpack: The North Face Jester Backpack

While studying my bachelor’s, I saw this backpack all over Pinterest and had it in my wishlist whenever I replaced my backpack in the future. I love the soft pink color and how all the accents of this backpack are also pink and/or grey. I love that this backpack also has a pocket for your laptop, which provides that extra cushion and protection to keep it safe (I always like to store my laptop in an additional sleeve for extra protection, which you will see further down this blog post).

(Image Source: The North Face; edited by me)

Writing Supplies: MUJI Gel Pens

MUJI stationery and writing supplies are my all-time favorites! Their quality and price is unmatched to others I have tried and you can order their gel pens in boxes or sets of colored pens. My favorite and go-to pens are MUJI Black Gel pens in 0.5 mm along with their colored pens in this same size. They also offer other essentials like rulers, erasers, mechanical pencils.. basically anything you could need for writing, MUJI probably has it!

(Image Source: MUJI; edited by me)

Notebooks and Folders: Five Star and Campus

You probably know the five star notebooks, they have been my favorite during undergrad and are very durable and sturdy along with their folders! I tend to buy one 3- or 5-subject notebook based on how many classes I am taking per semester. This time I am using a five star pink folder along with a Campus notebook, which is a brand I found on Amazon; they tend to sell their notebooks and binders in sets.

Highlighters: Zebra Mildliners

My favorite highlighters are the Zebra Mildliners – specifically their pastel collection! They also last a long time, most of the highlighters I have used still work to this day (with exception to my yellow highlighter, probably the first one to go out as it is the most used). Zebra has released a lot of new mildliner colors including brush pens. I have their classic milliners with dual tip (round tip and chisel tip) and use them for lettering note titles besides highlighting.

Laptop Sleeve: All Things Lilly Ann Laptop Puff

One of the creators and small business owners that inspired me to share my own art and content online are All Things Lilly Ann. She is an incredibly talented artist who sells apparel, stationery, coffee sleeves, and laptop sleeves! I love her flower and bows laptop sleeve; it is puffy and fits my 13-inch laptop perfectly. I also got a coffee sleeve in the same pattern for whenever I work and study at the library.

(Image Source: All Things Lilly Ann; edited by me)

Laptop: MacBook Air M3 13-inch

An unexpected decision I made was to upgrade my laptop to a MacBook Air M3. I previously had the 2020 MacBook Air M1, which works amazing for school; however, I started to feel it was falling behind on software I use for editing and design (note: I still highly recommend this model as it was still going strong for its main purpose which was schoolwork and work). I mainly upgraded my laptop to continue using it for both my personal hobbies and school. The main specs for my new laptop are below:

M3 chip with 8‑core CPU, 10‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
8GB unified memory
512GB SSD storage
13.6-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone²
1080p FaceTime HD camera
MagSafe 3 charging port
Two Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports
35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter

(Source: Apple; image taken by me)

Planner: Target

Target has very beautiful notebooks and planners. This year’s planner is by Sugar Paper Essentials! I always like to make sure my planners have both a monthly view (to see upcoming exams/projects) and weekly view (for homework assignments).

I hope you found inspiration and something you love in these finds and I wish you a happy, stress-free back-to-school time!