Going into junior year, life is great. Getting deeper into your major classes, getting closer with the friends you’ve made over the past two years, and getting settled into your third year. They say college is the best four years (sometimes more) of your life, and you never really realize how true that is until they start to come to an end.
The biggest realization that your time to graduate is slowly coming is the email you receive about ordering your class ring. Many schools send this out during your junior year so you can participate in a ring ceremony and wear your ring through your senior year. For many, this is very important because it commemorates the years of hard work, growth, and accomplishment spent at your college.
Personally, I was never a big fan of the idea of class rings until college. I never really understood the reasoning behind class rings in high school, but in college, it is just different. I think that maybe I have just always held myself to a high standard and expected myself to go beyond high school. I can’t say that graduating from college is going to be the biggest thing I accomplish in life, but it will definitely be a big accomplishment that I want to remember.
My class ring will not just be a reminder that I made it through all of the long nights, though classes and stressful study sessions. My ring will be a reminder of the friendships I have made, how much I have grown as an individual, and the first time that I got to walk across the Cistern as a college graduate.
Before you completely pass up on your opportunity to buy a class ring, put aside the idea of the cost of it, and think about all of the things, people, memories and accomplishments, big and small, that you will be reminded of when you see your ring.