When it comes to jewelry and charms, there can be a lot of sentimental value behind items as small as your fingernail. Everything has a story and everything happens in a specific way for some reason. While jewelry has always been a way to have something physical to show off on your body, it also has significant meaning and symbolism. The meaning of jewelry varies based on the piece, materials used, the country, and the memories behind it. The value of jewelry changes with time and style.

 Every piece of jewelry that has ever belonged to someone has a story behind it and has seen some part of history. It’s important to note that the value behind an item could be different for everyone some use it as a lucky charm, others use it as a way to remember that there is happiness still in this shattered world we live in. 

“The pin has served as a reminder of how happy I was and all the good friends I made back then,” Jay Rangel, junior.

Rangel said he believes that items hold a place in everyone’s heart, and that they all have different meanings behind them. In the early ages of Rangel’s life, he had a childhood friend and once they got separated she gave him a cat pin. The cat pin had shiny blue eyes and the rest of the cat was gold. The cat holds a small bell and has a ribbon, still gold, around its neck.

“The cat pin became like a lucky charm of sorts, and at this point, if it was ever lost I’d feel like I’d have lost a piece of who I was along with it,” Rangel said.

Freshman Pablo Lopez said that he wouldn’t be in the early college academy program if it has not been for his eighth-grade teacher who had a wide impact on him. Before Lopez left middle school, that teacher gave him a goldplated pin that says, drill team. Lopez said that before this teacher stepped up and became a positive role model for him, he never found anything interesting and always stayed inside.

“Without that pin, my motivation would be completely gone, and I probably wouldn’t be here at all,” Lopez said.

Lopez expresses that if he were to lose the pin, he would be really upset because it has been the one thing that means a lot to him.

“It’s been with me in the worst times of school and the best times of school. It was always in my backpack even on weekends and now it’s on my wall as a reminder that I am able to do more than what my body can,” Lopez said.