Imagine a piece of jewelry that is extremely special to you. What happens when you put it on? How do you feel when you wear it? Does it give you pride and joy to be seen with it on?

This is the sense of pride I feel when I wear my mom’s sterling silver necklace she wore when she was 16. I feel proud to be able to wear a piece of her. To me, she will always be youthful and full of life, and wearing her necklace seems to bring that out in how I see people.

She gave her necklace to me because I saw it in her jewelry box and loved it. She looked at me for a minute and said, “I want you to have it.” It has been very special to me ever since.

This struck something in me. I wanted to create something that people would feel proud to wear. I thought jewelry would be a good way to go, but I still wasn’t sure how it would all come together. I had no idea where to start.  

So I came up with only one question: What gets people excited to wear jewelry?

Well, they have to like it; they have to want to wear it. I found that the more diversity I experimented with, the more I discovered I could do with the pieces.

I began creating. I would look at which colors looked good together and which beads complimented each piece. By the time I had made a few necklaces, they looked amazing and authentic.

I found that the more I experimented, the more I could make them look original. Researching the history and origins of jewelry, I tried to find out what made it look authentic. Jewelry has always been a part of human culture. People made jewelry from whatever resources existed around them, whether bones, shells, wood or diamonds.

Over the years, jewelry has become timeless and can always be improved or altered. It went from only belonging to the wealthy, to being a common accessory almost everybody owns. Used to express oneself, jewelry was altered to fit into something for everyone’s own personal taste.

I began adding my own personal flare to each necklace, and made each my own. I made sure I would wear each one myself and that helped to make them look better.

Jewelry is a great way to accessorize any outfit and add individual touch. Take for example junior Danielle Weston; she has a necklace she wears constantly. She shared that it was important to her for various reasons. “On it, there’s this little anchor and ring. The ring is from when my dad proposed to my mom, so I think that’s really cute and it makes me happy. I got the anchor from a program I did at the Safari Park. There was a Hawaiian festival going on, so me and two other friends got these necklaces that had anchors on them.” Although this is one of the few pieces of jewelry Danielle wears, it still has significant meaning to her.

An infinity bracelet senior Alyssa Cascos wears also contains significant meaning; she and her best friend both have one. “Whenever I wear it, I think of her and our friendship. Sometimes I wear it and sometimes I don’t.” No matter how often she wears it, its sentimental value remains the same.

Jewelry connects people in a powerful way. Whether friendship bracelets or wedding rings, they constantly continue to draw people together; a forever memoir of how much humans are moved and affected by each other. In this way we learn to be adaptable and allow ourselves to be reminded of the special moments of our lives.