You look back over your shoulder to see your parents holding wide but worried smiles. Tears line their eyes as you step onto the bus, clutching your new Spiderman backpack so tight it hurts. But, this time you’re not five years old. Now you’re walking in for your last “first” day of high school.
“Growing up happens so fast it’s nice to have something to hold on to,” said Samantha Mares, senior.
Whether it’s Dora, Bluey, Frozen, Spiderman, or Buzz Lightyear, seniors have started a tradition of wearing kids’ backpacks during their senior year.
The trend first went viral on Tiktok around 2021, where many seniors would display a side by side of themselves. On the left, it showed a younger version of themselves, tightly clutching their backpack, scared but excited to step into their first day of kindergarten. On the right, a senior displays their new backpack embedded with their favorite childhood show.
“I only noticed [the trend] a few years ago when the ‘Everything but a Backpack’ TikTok’s became super popularized, so it’s not a long tradition. It’s not just Hoffman doing it; I’ve seen that it has become very publicized and other seniors at different schools are doing it,” said Naz Ahmed, English teacher.
By following this trend, seniors are able to carry a reminder of their childhood with them. Before they are officially considered “adults,” seniors are able to have something silly again that makes them feel giddy, just like when they were younger.
“Lately, I have realized that I’m not considered a kid anymore, that I have to do adult things and grow. So, by having a kids‘ backpack, it’s allowed me to have that childhood nostalgia back and feel like one again,” said Nyrobi Moon, senior.
These backpacks have become an accomplishment for seniors. By wearing them, they’re saying, “Hey, I’ve made it. I’m a senior now.” The long, grueling years of studying and fun memories of prom are ending, but now there is going to be a new chapter that begins.
“This trend has become a cute way to symbolize a full circle moment. I feel like it shows how I’ve made it to my next stage of life while still remembering my old self,” said Mylee Montgomery, senior.
Some seniors use the same backpack they wore as a child, while others prefer to buy new ones. This changes the emotional attachment each has to their backpacks.
“I feel like if you don’t buy one, it means more because there’s this pride and sentimental value behind it. But buying one feels different too. It’s like finding a new side of yourself, sort of like going back to an older version of yourself but still holding on to that innocence,” said Isabel Salazar, senior.
No matter what backpack, this trend all leads to the same idea: holding on to that last bit of nostalgia in a fun way while celebrating the transition into adulthood.
It’s a symbolic trend that displays the end of an era… as a kid you picked your colorful backpack excitedly, making it mean something to you, and then using that same backpack or finding one that’s similar is really sweet, said Ahmed.
