Senior rings an important tradition

KAYLA STACY – Hoof Prints Staff

Senior rings have been around for a very long time. For at least 20 years, Balfour has been selling class rings at the school. It’s the one thing most students look forward to as they become juniors, and the one thing parents dread. Senior rings are just the beginning of the many expenses parents face as their child finishes high school.

To some, the rings are just a waste of money. To most, they are very important. They tell a story. There are many different styles of class rings to fit the personality of every student. Some rings are just regular rings with your birthstone and graduation date. Whereas, others go all out and include the name of your high school, your graduation date, your name, your school mascot, and even symbols. These symbols represent sports, occupations, clubs, or even hobbies that interest you most.

Later on down the road, when you’re rummaging through your old jewelry box and come across this ring, you can look back and remember the day you bought it and remember what each symbol really stood for. This ring ties you to your high school memories. You could remember how you felt just knowing that graduation is almost near and that you’re not a child anymore and it’s time to grow up.

Senior rings are a rite of passage. It has lasted as a tradition for a reason. They are stylish and fashionable symbol of one’s final year of high school. Without these rings, seniors wouldn’t enjoy the full experience. What’s next? Take away the graduation itself?

Senior rings an outdated concept

MADISON FINCH – Hoof Prints Staff

How will you remember your senior year? Perhaps through pictures or yearbooks? Photographs can bring back the memories of high school and remind one of “the good old days” several years after graduation. Senior rings will not provide one with the memories that many want to remember.  Personally, I feel senior rings are a waste of money.

This year, I am a junior, so that means I ordered my senior ring.  Before ordering, I thought about what I wanted to it say about me. I came to the conclusion that I didn’t need a ring.  I would rather have something that I would wear after high school. I ended up ordering a ring, but then I began thinking about why senior rings are such traditional fads.

It is my belief that senior rings are traditions that students are unwilling to change. For one thing, students’ friends are getting rings, so they are led to believe they need one as well. Students are also told that a senior ring will be kept forever. I have a hard time believing that. I rarely see anyone over the age of 18 wearing their high school ring. I also see commercials advertising for melting old senior rings. This shows that most people don’t keep them.

To me, it is rather foolish to purchase an over-rated piece of jewelry when so many other expenses are mandatory. Seniors have to pay for graduation preparations and college dues are just ahead. I don’t think an extra $300 should be paid for something that will more than likely be thrown in the back of one’s closet in two years.

It is obvious to me that a senior ring is a popular fad that is, in my opinion, outdated. I would much rather spend money on something that would actually benefit me and help me in the future.