By Jason Fontelieu

Walking through the floors of McKeldin Library, it’s hard to miss the multitude of students studying on their laptops and the array of vibrant, unique stickers that adorn many of them.

Students decorate their laptops for a variety of reasons. For freshman public health science major Emma Callamaro, she represents her hometown of Boston with stickers of the skyline and colloquial phrase, “wicked.”

“Sometimes, when I’m sitting in the library, people, if they’re also from Boston, [will] notice these ones and come say ‘Hi’ because there’s not a lot of out-of-state students here,” Callamaro said.

One popular website for ordering stickers is Redbubble, where Callamaro got hers. Senior material sciences and engineering major Robin Sultan also got stickers for her laptop from the website.

Some of Sultan’s stickers represent her favorite pop punk bands, such as Neck Deep, Tonight Alive and The Wonder Years. Sultan, whose laptop is a Toshiba PC, particularly enjoys when fellow pop punk fans approach her because of her stickers.

“It warms my little heart,” she said.

Not only do some like to show off their favorite music, but their favorite television shows as well. Sophomore kinesiology major Kerry Callaghan is just one example.

“Most people like the [stickers] from ‘The Office,’” Callaghan said. “That show is nothing but quality.”

She has two stickers from the show: one of the main characters Michael Scott, played by Steve Carrell, and one of a candle business owned by another character. Callaghan has a MacBook Pro and also gets her stickers from Redbubble.

Freshman government and politics major Alysa Conway refrains from purchasing her stickers, but rather accumulates them from different events at this university, such as football games or the First Look Fair.

She said she also likes her stickers that say “bold” and “fearless” because that’s what she aspires to be. Conway has a Toshiba laptop.

Other students choose to decorate their laptops with stickers from causes they’re passionate about, like senior environmental science and policy major Gabe Donnenberg.

A self-proclaimed environmentalist, Donnenberg has multiple stickers advocating for such causes, like the SCA, a company that does trail work and outdoor education, and Solar City, a company run by Donnenberg’s uncle that assesses the feasibility of installing solar panels on people’s houses.

Another standout sticker for Donnenberg is from his trip to Bocas Del Toro in Panama.

“The sun is always shining, and the beaches are always sandy and white,” he said. He has a Toshiba laptop.

Freshman neurobiology and French double major Emma Walz similarly displays stickers for causes important to her, like her rainbow terrapin stickers in support of LGBTQA+ students at this university.

Walz, who has a MacBook, also especially likes her Rottweiler sticker.

“It’s the same breed as my dog,” she said, “with his cute little eyebrows.”

Stickers continue to prove to be a subtle and relatively inexpensive way for students to be able to express themselves around campus and make connections.

Featured Photo Credit: Freshman government and politics major Alysa Conway sports several stickers for university events on her Toshiba laptop. (Jason Fontelieu/Bloc Reporter)

Jason Fontelieu is a freshman journalism major and can be reached at jcf037@comcast.net