Making Personal Computers More Personal
Students decorate their laptops with an array of stickers as a means of self-expression.
Isabella Sanchez
Materials Science and Engineering
Class of 2021
Sanchez’s laptop stickers highlight many of her favorite restaurants, places and moments. “I got this sticker at the Whole Earth Festival. I really like it because it represented Davis fun, but also NorCal culture,” said Sanchez, who is from Southern California. One of her stickers is also on each of her closest friends’ laptops as a way to reflect their bond while they go to colleges across the country.
Brandon Dimapasoc
Economics
Class of 2021
“This Christian fellowship sticker was the first I put on my laptop, because the Asian American Christian Fellowship was one of the first organizations I joined on campus, and it allowed me to meet new people and grow in a spiritual sense,” said Dimapasoc. He also showcases some of his favorite TV shows, like “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
Evelyn Loehner
Undeclared — Life Sciences
Class of 2022
Loehner’s sticker design is inspired by her zodiac sign, Pisces, and its animal representation, the fish. “I have the ‘swim’ here to remind me to just keep swimming, like Dory,” she said.
Julius Vo
Cell Biology
Class of 2019
“Stickers liven things up and start conversation,” said Vo. He first placed stickers on his laptop because he received them from friends and didn’t want to discard them. His laptop reflects his involvement in Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed community service fraternity, and his interest in the show “Adventure Time,” among others.
Cynthia Woo
Managerial Economics
Class of 2020
Woo highlights the places she’s been and the organizations she’s involved with through her laptop stickers. “They [the stickers] show the things you’re part of and say you’re proud to be part of them,” she said, pointing to her Davis and Hawaii stickers as favorites.
Eva Chean
Statistics
Class of 2022
For Chean, decorating her laptop had a domino effect. “I wanted to cover the laptop logo,” she said. “And once I started, I wanted to fill up the space. Plus, the stickers are cute.” She considers her mushroom sticker her favorite.
Geovanna Medel
English
Class of 2019
Medel, a pre-law student, said she likes laptop stickers for the cohesive picture they paint. Medel said, “I like the idea of making something with lots of things I value,” referencing her multiple stickers, including books, the scales of justice, and those addressing religious and political affiliations.
Ruthi Sankarram
Computer Science
Class of 2020
Sankarram said the stickers on her laptop represent parts of who she is, specifically pointing to her sticker of the GitHub logo. “I have this one because programming is life,” Sankarram said, also addressing her love of dogs, “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” and her zodiac sign with her other laptop decorations.
Kevin Barrios Lopez
Sociology
Class of 2019
Barrios Lopez, a pre-med student, not only uses his laptop stickers to denote his interests, but to remind himself of his progress. “This ‘Thirsty for Knowledge’ sticker was from a friend and represents the reason I’m here: to pursue higher ed. And this Oakland’s Promise sticker I got from a scholarship. It reminds me where I’m from.” His “No te rajas” — don’t give up — sticker reflects his community.
Lulu Wang
Computer Science
Class of 2019
Wang acknowledges her major through a HackDavis sticker on her laptop, but said every sticker on her laptop is reflective of her. “These are all the things I like or things I’ve done,” said Wang, pointing to animal stickers because they are cute and a League of Legends sticker showing her appreciation of and participation in the game.
Raziel Ramil
Undeclared — Life Sciences
Class of 2022
Ramil said she collected stickers along the way and didn’t have a place to put them, but thought, “Why not [on] my empty laptop?” “My favorite sticker is the blue shaka, which I got from Hawaii,” she added.
Emma Reinhardt
Animal Biology
Class of 2021
Reinhardt fills her laptop with stickers representing her passions. “These stickers help me tell my laptop apart [from others],” she said. She cited her Environmental Club sticker as an example of something important to her.
Christen Tamisin
Philosophy, Psychology
Class of 2019
Tamisin displays some of her favorite things on her laptop, from favorite media — including “Inside Out,” Overwatch and “Breaking Bad” — to buildings. “I like the SRRC. I lived there,” she joked, explaining the presence of a Student Recruitment and Retention Center sticker on her laptop.
