Pleiad Staff: What Our Laptop Stickers Mean to Us

Heidi Laptop Photo - Heidi Faramelli Large — Angola, Ind. sophomore, Heidi Faramelli’s, laptop decorated with stickers. “My favorite sticker that I submitted is the golden retriever sticker, because my dog high fives me with her paw in that position frequently, so it makes me think of her and smile!” Faramelli said (Photo illustration by Heidi Faramelli).

Heidi Faramelli, Copy Editor

What stickers mean to Faramelli: My laptop stickers reveal that I love to read, and I have nostalgic memories of the Scholastic Book Fair. Also, I love to write – especially for the Pleiad, but also in general. I love the Peanuts comics and Snoopy, because they are wholesome and show me that there is good in the world. I love my dog, Millie, who is a golden retriever. I used to live in Colorado, which is a place filled with a lot of amazing childhood memories for me. Also, I love New Girl — disclaimer: I do eat vegetables AND take care of myself, but Nick Miller is just so funny I had to include him.

Various stickers surround Berkley junior, Bella Bakeman’s laptop. To Bakeman, laptop stickers are a way to connect with people about books, butterflies and human rights (Photo illustration by Bella Bakeman).

Bella Bakeman, Editor-in-Chief

What stickers mean to Bakeman: I always have my laptop open, so my stickers are often the first thing people see when they meet me. To me, having stickers that represent things I love or believe in is really important because it gives people a way to approach me if they want to. I like to make sure there’s always stickers representing books, music and hobbies that I love – as well as human rights issues I’m passionate about. And of course, a Pleiad sticker.

An array of multi-colored stickers cover Adrian senior Katherine Simpkins’ laptop as it sits on her desk at work. “My laptop stickers represent me and the things I support, enjoy or just simply think are funny,” Simpkins said (Photo illustration by Katherine Simpkins).

Katherine Simpkins, Media Editor & Co-Marketing Coordinator

What stickers mean to Simpkins: Although I love all of my stickers, my favorite is the giant red one. I am a very emotional person who can be sensitive at times. Even though I have a bark and bite, I still like to be handled with care. At work we have stickers we put on packages when there are fragile items inside, hence the sticker in the top left corner. I took one and put it on my laptop because I, too, need to be handled with care and can be fragile at times.

Flat Rock sophomore, Lindsay Ratcliffe’s, laptop sitting on their desk in Whitehouse Hall. “I try to show my personality and my values in my laptop stickers,” Ratcliffe said (Photo illustration by Lindsay Ratcliffe).

Lindsay Ratcliffe, Part-time Staff Writer

What stickers mean to Ratcliffe: For me, my laptop stickers are your way to get to know me if you’re shy. I try to show my personality and my values in my laptop stickers. Some things are simple, like pointing out what sorority I am in or my majors. But others are things that you might not know, like how I absolutely love reading or that I drink coffee.

Favorite stickers: I have two different favorite stickers. My first one is the pink outline with the words “do something with your life that will make a mediocre white man angry,” because it makes me laugh, and reminds me of all the things I do by simply being myself that would make a mediocre white man angry. The second sticker is the abstract version of Ross from “Friends” saying “I’m fine” in a squeaky voice. I love this one because I always feel so stressed like Ross was in this episode.

Clawson sophomore, Aidan Shapiro’s, sticker-covered laptop. “Darth Vader is my favorite sticker because he’s my favorite Star Wars character, no matter what Disney says,” Shapiro said (Photo illustration by Aidan Shapiro).

Aidan Shapiro, Part-time Staff Writer

What stickers mean to Shapiro: Overall, I feel as though my stickers represent my likes pretty well. I love Star Wars, so I have a lot of Star Wars stickers on my laptop. Just like how I play lacrosse, so I have a lot of lacrosse related stickers too. I’m also very passionate about music, so I have a couple stickers taken off of vinyl album wrappings.

A collection of assorted stickers cover almost the entirety of Boyne city junior, Phoebe Holm’s, laptop. “My favorite sticker of my collection is the antisocial butterfly, which mostly encapsulates my personality. Always fluttering about trying my best to avoid people and interaction,” Holm said (Photo illustration by Phoebe Holm).

Phoebe Holm, Part-time Staff Writer

What stickers mean to Holm: As cliche as it sounds, I like to think they represent me as an individual. They are there for a specific reason to show people places I have been, places I love, details and personality traits of mine, things I’m involved in and ideas I believe in. The theme is all over the place but that’s what I love about it. My favorite one of my collection is the antisocial butterfly, which mostly encapsulates my personality. Always fluttering about trying my best to avoid people and interaction.

Ann Arbor sophomore, Jocelyn Kincaid-Beal’s, colorfully stickered laptop. “I like having stickers on my laptop because everyone who sees it gets a sense of who I am,” Kincaid-Beal said (Photo illustration by Jocelyn Kincaid-Beal).

Jocelyn Kincaid-Beal, Volunteer Staff Writer

What stickers mean to Kincaid-Beal: I love my laptop stickers; they’re so fun and colorful and they encapsulate a lot of my personality and things I like. There’s queerness, Stardew Valley, Squishmallows, Taylor Swift… that’s pretty much all there is to me.

Favorite sticker: My favorite sticker is the badger with butterfly wings and a mushroom hat. He is just a whimsical little fellow, and that is what I inspire to be. He’s also drawn by an Ann Arbor artist, and I’m always happy to rep artists from home.