Junior Misha Condra gets up from out of her bed, her cat, Sonic, tangled up in the sheets. Still groggy, she shuffles to the bathroom to start her morning routine. She washes her face, does her makeup, gets dressed, and adds a signature touch – her dragonfly necklace.

“It’s just really cute. Also, it’s like, it smells good because it’s my perfume,” Condra said.

“[Jewelry] can be like personal gifts and just something very warm hearted,” junior Isabella Saldana said. “And it’s very nice to see people wearing [it] all the time because you just never know where it’s coming from.”

Although financial value can be important- the rings, necklaces, and bracelets people wear often carry a lot of sentiment and hide stories within themselves.

“My mom gave me my other ring that I wear, which is my silver ring with the mini heart on it. And she gave it to me for my birthday,” Condra said. “And I love wearing it because it’s- it’s simple, but it’s also just like, It’s my mom.”

According to Condra, her mom bought it from James Avery. Like Condra, Saldana has her staples too. She loves her white heart necklace and her silver hoop earrings, but she rarely wears her most valuable piece. 

“For my 16th birthday, my aunt gave me a Dior butterfly ring and it’s very precious to me,” Saldana said. “I’m scared to wear it because I don’t want to lose it, but I just love it so much and I can tell she put a lot of love into buying it.”

For junior Aubrey Tarbox, her everyday jewelry also carries a lot of meaning. She’s almost always wearing her compass ring, which her parents gifted to her after her confirmation. 

“I’m Lutheran and confirmation is when you basically, you go through like a class in middle school for three years and you learn about Baptism,” Tarbox said. “You learn about the Lutheran church [and] just learn about your faith and your religion… and then you ‘graduate’”.

Tarbox’s compass is constantly pointing North to symbolize that she is always moving forward and that her faith will be there to guide her. On her other finger, she wears a silver arrow ring gifted to her by her cousin. On her wrist, a charm bracelet.

“The chain links are made out of stars, which like symbolizes, right symbolizes my little special interest of space. And then I have a couple different charms – I have a cross,” Tarbox said. “I think this there, I have a bow and arrow, which is, I do archery. I also have a violin because I used to be in orchestra and I was in it for a very, very long time.”

Tarbox also has a Saturn charm and a space-themed heart on her bracelet, demonstrating her interests in the cosmic world. Although jewelry is small and often seems insignificant, it can tell a lot about the person wearing it- if you’re willing to notice. 

“It was last year that I really accumulated all the special ones and the ones I wear everyday because I finally had my own money to buy my own rings,” senior Elizabeth Farias said. “And I finally made close enough friends that they would want to buy me things which I think is really special and I love them so much for that.”

Farias has an everyday stack of mostly silver jewelry. Sometimes she just wears rings from Amazon, but other pieces are cherished gifts from friends. For instance, when her close friend, Malena, was away on vacation, she bought Farias a heart-shaped obsidian necklace.

“It made me really happy that she thought of me from so far away,” Farias said. “And I’ve worn it every single day- and plus it’s obsidian and I’m kind of crystal girly because of her so it makes me very happy.”

“I’ve had some really close calls where necklaces fell apart or like my bracelet broke,” Farias said. “I found them and it really is like the moment I realized I’m not wearing one, I drop everything and I have to find it.”

There’s nothing wrong with liking accessories a little on the expensive side- or the opposite. To Tarbox, Farias, Saldana, and Condra, jewelry’s worth is not defined by its cost.

“Money doesn’t always stay, and like just because someone gets used to [jewelry being] extremely expensive- yes, it might have an impact on how you think about it or how you view it, but it doesn’t matter in the long run,” Tarbox said. “Emotional value is really what matters because that’s- that’s you. Money doesn’t define you, your emotions- what you think of, how you think of yourself, how you think of others, that defines you.”

According to Tarbox, jewelry can mean a lot of things for the wearer. It could be religious, aesthetic, cultural, or hold significant memories.

“They’re smaller – and I can take them everywhere and it’s nice to have a smaller piece of someone with me than like a full piece of clothing I think,” Farias said. 

Farias also notes that jewelry’s small size makes the compliments on it all the more special. Moreover, the ability to personalize your outfits and add little details can be empowering for people, as Tarbox suggests.

“That’s really how they express themselves and how they choose to and sometimes- that’s sometimes that’s the only thing they can control in their lives,” Tarbox said.

Therefore, buying jewelry for someone can have quite an impact, although it seems like just a minor detail. 

“Yeah, I think [jewelry holds more meaning] because I feel like you can like give someone jewelry,” Condra said. “And then it could be… sentimental like the way that my jewelry sentimental to me.”