Back to school… and I need a satchel!

Okay, okay. I know it was only last week that I declared myself ‘out’ of education for this school year. I was certain that this year was going to be the first academic year that I wasn’t going to be starting a new course or studying for another qualification. Yes, this year there would be no ceremonies to attend and no certificates arriving in the post. However…

Since writing about this during my Tuesday Shoesday blog post, I’ve had a bit of an ‘accidental’ browse online for short-courses, and have flicked through my local leisure-learning brochure. It’s an unusual change of heart, because I was actually looking forward to not writing assignments this year. But I just can’t help myself – perhaps I’m a little bit addicted to education, to gaining knowledge, and to getting new school supplies? Whatever it is, it means that I’ve impulsively signed myself up for a degree module on “Brands” at the UEA, which starts on the 14th October.

So surely that means that I will need to nip to the stationery shop and pick up some new pens and folders? I already have the school shoes that caused all this in the first place. And I definitely need a new satchel. Right now. This is a school-bag emergency, people!

I’ve had a browse around my favourite bag retailers online and have discovered how difficult it is to buy a simple bag. The problem I’ve found is that many online stores don’t list the dimensions of their handbags or important details like whether it has a phone pocket or zipped section inside. Any bag that I choose needs to fit in my tablet, a notebook and all other school-related paraphernalia, so it must be the right size! I know this wouldn’t be a problem if I just went to a shop to buy my school bag – but I work in my office all day (as soon as I finish work, the shops close, it’s as if they know I’m coming…), and the internet is right there for me to make my purchase at any time of day. Plus I can have my item placed in my hands within a couple of days without stepping foot on the high street. Very convenient. But a little difficult if the item you’re shopping for needs to fit a specific item into it.

Luckily I found a shop online that sells one of my favourite bag brands Nica and includes information on bag dimensions and pocket-content. After an enjoyable browse on the Bagable website during a tea-break, I found my ideal satchel for going back to school. I had my iPad and a tape-measure to hand to check the measurements, so after a couple of the bags turned out to be too small to accommodate my tablet, I found a satchel that was exactly the right size: this Nica Estelle shoulder bag.

I love the minty aqua colour (one of my new favourite colours that I’ve been wearing all summer, and will look great all year round) and this bag has a gorgeous floral lining with plenty of pockets for my mobile phone and pencil case! It’s a vintage-esque design with punched-out flower pattern and cute leather tassels, which is what stood out to me when I was browsing the website – I’d never seen anything like it before. I don’t know what it is about satchels, but it wouldn’t be right to go to school without one. Maybe it’s because I read The Story of Fuzzypeg as a child – do you remember that story by Alison Uttley where a little hedgehog has his first day at school? I loved it and the illustrations of a cute hedgehog carrying a satchel by Margaret Tempest were captivating. I think that’s why I need a school satchel so much!

Well, now that I have my satchel over my shoulder, I’m all organised and ready for going back to school next week. I know a lot of my course will involve distance learning online, but at least I feel like a student again and am getting into a new mindset of preparing for deadlines and assignments. I will keep you updated with my progress this semester and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it won’t eat into my blogging time too much! So if you see the blog going quiet for a few days, at least you’ll know what I’m up to!

Related articles

• Tuesday Shoesday ~ Back to school (cassiefairy.com)