Year after year, students of each graduating class have gone to school with backpacks bearing characters from their favorite childhood shows as they complete their final year of high school.
This year, the class of ’26 at Woodbridge High carries on a long existing tradition of wearing kid-themed backpacks for senior year, each student with a unique story of their sentimental bag for the year.
For some, this tradition is a direct connection back to their younger self, such as senior Emma Jafa and her decision to use her first backpack, the one she had worn years ago in kindergarten.
“I thought maybe I should use the backpack that I came into [Irvine Unified School District] with and it’s gonna be the same backpack I’m leaving IUSD with,” Jafa said.
Furthering the emotions attached to the bag, Jafa spoke of taking a picture on the first day of school directly paralleling the one she had taken on her first day years ago. Others looked for backpacks with specific characters or stories they liked as a kid.
“Moana’s like, probably my favorite Disney princess… she’s just, not a conventional princess,” senior Paisley Koh said.
Koh also added that she was even in a Moana musical when she was younger. For Koh, this is a long-anticipated opportunity—something she found out about as an underclassman and had been looking forward to for years.
For these seniors, bringing their colorful and cartoonish backpacks to school carries a deeper meaning, which is made extra special by being their final backpacks before leaving Woodbridge High.
“It kind of symbolizes [a] full circle, how we’re graduating, but, we’re still children [and] we can still have fun,” senior Daniel Lavi said. To participate, he had a dora-themed backpack.
As seniors sit on the verge of the unknown world that is adulthood, this tradition is a lighthearted way to say that life will be okay, bringing back fond memories of simpler times.
“It’s just kind of a symbol of…cherish your childhood, cherish while you’re young,” said Jafa.
It is also special way for seniors, exclusively, to bond with one another over mutual love for a certain show or character.
“It’s so fun to see all the different backpacks and the different themes…it’s so nostalgic to be like ‘oh my gosh I remember watching that show or movie,’” Koh said.
As the graduating class of 2026 leaves Woodbridge High and go their separate ways, this opportunity for connection is a meaningful way not only to recognize one another in this strange time, but also to remember that we were all young kids at some point, eagerly looking to the future and all our future endeavors.
In a year full of change, reminiscing on childhood memories with cute backpacks is a gentle reminder for seniors to enjoy the journey—holding onto memories from the past, while making new ones for the future.
