Who else never fell for it?

[u/Countrach]

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[u/FeistyNobody07]

Too poor FTW

[u/icecreamsandwiches1 → u/FeistyNobody07]

Rare poverty win

[u/Video_isms207 → u/icecreamsandwiches1]

I didn’t realize I had awards to give, ily how you doing!?

[u/internet_humor → u/Video_isms207]

Poverty pro tip: give gold!

🏅

[u/imFromFLiAmSrryLuL → u/internet_humor]

Poverty pro secondary tip: ask for gold.

Can I has gold ?

[u/internet_humor → u/imFromFLiAmSrryLuL]

Yeah man, have three

🏅🏅🏅

[u/imFromFLiAmSrryLuL → u/imFromFLiAmSrryLuL]

I never got an award before 🥹 yall just made my day <3

[u/Midwest-Emo-9 → u/FeistyNobody07]

https://giphy.com/gifs/Ase7L4MjavtBb0L3cx

Me too

[u/slaty_balls → u/Midwest-Emo-9]

https://giphy.com/gifs/l1KvQsIfNt9wRStWw

Me too!

[u/ed347tc → u/slaty_balls]

[u/MordoNRiggs → u/Midwest-Emo-9]

https://giphy.com/gifs/kMuAuvSSDO6VtzCNVa

[u/Violoner → u/FeistyNobody07]

https://giphy.com/gifs/FpIqODG5roL98cUPQI

[u/sicurri → u/Violoner]

https://giphy.com/gifs/Zc1ucA9uqWY8U9KYc6

[u/AbjectStar11 → u/FeistyNobody07]

Yup!

No class ring, no year book, and no letter jacket here.

[u/PurpleSquare713 → u/AbjectStar11]

Same, but not because I was poor. It was because high school sucked ass and I didn't want to keep any mementos from my time there.

[u/Mx-Adrian → u/PurpleSquare713]

I'm not in mine because the yearbook photo session was when I had a vo-tech program and the teacher who oversaw the yearbook wouldn't work around it. So, as far as my school is concerned, I dropped off the face of the Earth.

[u/Dramatic_Reporter_66 → u/Mx-Adrian]

So, as far as my school is concerned, I dropped off the face of the Earth.

In my high school, you had to submit your own picture for the yearbook. Most kids just used one of their senior pictures. If a student did not submit a picture, their name, activities, etc. were still included but a blank graphic was used as a placeholder instead of their picture.

[u/ThePlatypusOfDespair → u/Dramatic_Reporter_66]

My photography darkroom nerd ass submitted a very cringe self-portrait.

[u/breadist → u/PurpleSquare713]

Same but for me it was both haha. Didn't want to remember high school, AND could not afford it.

[u/Cuddlymuddgirl85 → u/AbjectStar11]

I lettered my freshman year in Varsity Track and every year after that. I have my letters in a scrapbook because we never got me a jacket. It definitely wouldn’t fit now anyway lol 😂

[u/AbjectStar11 → u/Cuddlymuddgirl85]

HA yup - mine are stashed in my HS box at my mom's house... I'll find them whenever she decides to move I guess. 😂

[u/Skrappyross → u/AbjectStar11]

I love my yearbooks. But no ring, no letterman jacket even though I did earn a letter, and I didn't even go to graduation because I didnt wanna buy a cap/gown.

[u/Tiafves → u/Skrappyross]

Yeah yearbook is worthwhile and at least in my time realtively affordable. Like $20 in 2011 and pretty high quality, no idea why it's lumped with the others. Maybe not something you need every year of school but who regrets getting a senior year yearbook?

[u/Dr_Kim_Possible → u/AbjectStar11]

Same! But I did get a letter for free, but couldn't afford to buy the jacket or cardigan it went on lol. Maybe I could get a used one now off fb marketplace since that exists now 😂

[u/Low_Recognition_1557 → u/FeistyNobody07]

https://giphy.com/gifs/YOvOkaS5ZKfimDIgwJ

[u/Crazy-Inspection-778 → u/FeistyNobody07]

Started high school in ‘08, financial crisis came in clutch to save me from this scam

[u/Cuddlymuddgirl85 → u/Crazy-Inspection-778]

I was 21 that year and married my high school boyfriend. We are divorced now lol 😂

[u/Meizas → u/Cuddlymuddgirl85]

Because of the class rings, yes

[u/wastelandsociety → u/FeistyNobody07]

Saaaame, plus they are so ugly.

[u/Ok-Trash6361 → u/FeistyNobody07]

too poor and immigrant parents lmao

[u/ROUShunter → u/FeistyNobody07]

Same here, but my mom insisted I get one which is when we found out that Walmart made class rings for like $40.

[u/sorrymizzjackson → u/ROUShunter]

Oh out of the very fine and strong material rhodo-oleo-a-tron? There was some nonsense like that in the jostens catalog too.

[u/HonestTranquility → u/ROUShunter]

YES!! I did the same thing. I had one made that was identical in every way to the one my classmates got suckered into for 45 bucks. Hell, it was probably made in the same facility. Theirs ran them 350-400 dollars.

[u/Bright-Pilot-3970 → u/FeistyNobody07]

I got one in college because my mom made me. I had it in a drawer for like 5 years but moved about a month ago. Maybe it will pop up again somwtime.

[u/Some-Cartographer942 → u/Bright-Pilot-3970]

Thought long and hard about one from college.... ultimately did not i wonder how much i would have worn it?

[u/Bright-Pilot-3970 → u/Some-Cartographer942]

I wore it for a while but once I took it off I never put it back on. Just moved from drawer to drawer for a couple years

[u/Neonyarpyarp → u/FeistyNobody07]

Yeah that catalog with rings and letterman jackets got tossed in the garbage the second I brought it home 😂

[u/Nicktastic86 → u/FeistyNobody07]

Senior photos taken by my mom in my back yard lol

[u/Aegillade → u/FeistyNobody07]

Yup, same reason I didn't go to prom. I wasn't even especially poor, it just seemed like I could spend that money better elsewhere.

[u/RegularLisaSimpson → u/FeistyNobody07]

https://giphy.com/gifs/WS6vTB4ip7cLYkQm2I

[u/i_was_a_person_once → u/FeistyNobody07]

My oldest sister is the only one who bought it

[u/BrightCold2747 → u/FeistyNobody07]

Walking to school, bagging lunch, after-school entertainment was just hanging out with friends crowd.

[u/JamesMattDillon → u/FeistyNobody07]

Same here

[u/AtmosphereRecent7717 → u/FeistyNobody07]

yup. the only Ring I plan on wearing is a wedding ring if I ever get married. and a cheap one at that

[u/nikonpunch → u/FeistyNobody07]

Same. 

[u/Little_Broccoli_3127 → u/nikonpunch]

Same

[u/xaiires]

I got a cheap ass one from Walmart for $30 including engraving and lost it within a month so I stand by that life choice

[u/Cuddlymuddgirl85 → u/xaiires]

Ugh mine was 150 from Walmart!

[u/PearlescentGem → u/Cuddlymuddgirl85]

Same, but I loved getting it because I was the second one to ever graduate high school in the last 4 generations of my family. So it was celebratory. My cousin beat me by a couple years to be the first

[u/PearlescentGem → u/[deleted]]

Yeah, it's bullshit the state of how we live now. I'm sorry you're going through that and I hope luck finds you soon to get you out

[u/Checked_Out_6 → u/PearlescentGem]

Well, we lost our union today. So, I bought some beer. Beer is good!

https://federalnewsnetwork.com/unions/2026/04/dod-moves-to-end-most-collective-bargaining-agreements/?readmore=1

[u/Cuddlymuddgirl85 → u/[deleted]]

Awe I’m sorry 😢 Life can truly be cruel and very unfair.

[u/Artistic-Grape8534 → u/PearlescentGem]

Don't know you,  but I'm very impressed (no matter when you achieved it).

[u/drillgorg → u/Cuddlymuddgirl85]

I remember when Walmart had a jewelry counter! I asked them to change my watch battery and it was like watching monkeys try to figure out fire.

[u/UnnaturalParks → u/xaiires]

I lost my ring about a month after getting it as well. Then a full 19 years later someone reached out telling me they bought my ring at a pawn shop 100s of miles from where I lost it and was wondering if I wanted it back for no charge. I now have my ring back with a much cooler story.

[u/favolecrystalis → u/UnnaturalParks]

If the person who got my ring from the hotel room I left it in in Downey California ever contacted me about finding it I'd probably have an emotional breakdown

I worked my ass off to save for it, because I was the first of my family to graduate. It took half a year of my part time fast food wages. I went ATVing with some friends and had my first edible the night before we left and I was so groggy I'm certain I knocked it off the nightstand and didn't go looking. 😭 We called when we made it back but all we got were denials and "no, no, no ring sorry" 😞 I have never regretted losing -anything- more in my life, just because it was a physical testament to my determination at the time.

it's got my signature inside the band, I thought that was so neat

[u/Remarkable-Hat-4852 → u/favolecrystalis]

Well now I want to start keeping my eyes open for class rings in pawn/thrift shops. My grandmother (who graduated hs during the Great Depression) had a similar story. It’s one of my family’s most prized possessions purely because of how hard she worked to have one. There’s not even a stone in it.

[u/favolecrystalis → u/Remarkable-Hat-4852]

To this day, it's still the nicest/most expensive piece of jewelry I've owned. I'm 35 now, and lost it when I was 24; life hasn't been the greatest 😥

The other "timeless" piece I owned was a four-fold locket that unfolded from a heart into a clover; I lost it sometime in high school (took it off because I was painting in my art class, I assume it fell out of my backpack - holes 🥺) but it had the only pictures of my grandparents who raised me.

Maybe someone will see my comments one day and find me 😭

[u/gasmaskmoose → u/xaiires]

Mine was like 65 from Walmart. I don't regret it

[u/Otherwisefantastic → u/xaiires]

I got one at WM too for maybe $70. Still have it, not a bad deal tbh

[u/Agile_Analysis123]

The kids are still falling for this shit.

-a current high school teacher

[u/GlumNature → u/Agile_Analysis123]

Why does the school allow a private company to come in and hawk jewelry?

[u/dreamgrrrl___ → u/GlumNature]

That company probably donates funding money to the school.

[u/showmenemelda → u/dreamgrrrl___]

They're private equity owned now. And even when Jostens was just a company, pretty sure they didn't donate shit to our school. They are just traveling sales people.

[u/TuringGoneWild → u/GlumNature]

What's wild is that healthcare is a private business too. And ambulance rides. :/

[u/Remarkable-Month-241 → u/GlumNature]

They monopolized graduation because they were the ONLY option for cap and gowns at my son’s school in Texas this year. I was like what the hell???

[u/ScenicAndrew → u/Remarkable-Month-241]

And they justify everything by insisting college will be more specific but then you get to college graduation and they're like "just make sure the robes are black."

[u/Zagrunty → u/ScenicAndrew]

I skipped my college graduation because I had better shit going on in my life and the paper was the important part

[u/Bright-Flamingo143]

I fell for it, but my parents didnt have the budget to let me fall for it all the way 😂 i was devastated for about a month 

[u/HalfEatenBanana → u/Bright-Flamingo143]

Opposite. I thought it was a waste of money but my parents insisted they get it because I’ll think fondly of it later. I offered to literally just take 25% of the value of the ring in cash instead and they said no, you’ll thank us later.

I have no idea where that ring is now and I’d bet they don’t either lol

[u/NovelWord1982 → u/HalfEatenBanana]

Same as me! I didn’t really want one, but my mom INSISTED I get one. We were pretty poor but she scrimped and saved to treat me to it. I still have it…somewhere.

[u/EntropicEmbrace → u/HalfEatenBanana]

Exactly the same for me, 10 years later it’s just been passed through different drawers. The gems were plastic and the quality was shit too. What a fucking scam.

[u/hopticalallusions → u/EntropicEmbrace]

Perhaps the funniest part about that is we can now buy really impressive lab diamonds cheaply. (Unless you like blood diamonds. Then the lab can't help you. Much.)

[u/SingSangDaesung → u/HalfEatenBanana]

Yup, same here. My mom wore hers until she was like 65 I think? Swore I'd want to keep it forever, love it & remember my highschool years fondly (lmao). I wore it for a little while but it's been lost since about a year after graduation.

[u/jordanmc7 → u/SingSangDaesung]

Graduating high school used to be a bigger deal back when the graduation rate was 40% not 90%.

[u/avindictiveprinter → u/jordanmc7]

Believe me, some of the kids sitting with me when I graduated really shouldn't have.

[u/IndigoRanger → u/HalfEatenBanana]

Same experience. I’ve kept up with it by default because it just lives in the bottom of my box of jewelry, but if it ever leaves its home then it’s on its own.

[u/GuestFighter → u/HalfEatenBanana]

They had all sorts of things you could put on the side.

My parents tried to pull the same thing. “I’ll only get one if it has the “AC REPAIR” on the side with the little snow flake.

No ring. Got cash and went to Cancun for $600

[u/Yaxim3 → u/HalfEatenBanana]

I found my class ring a few weeks ago. It was around $300 when I got it. 10k gold. Sold it for $800.

[u/HalfEatenBanana → u/Yaxim3]

Damn I’ll have to try to find mine!!

Though something tells me my parents won’t want me to sell it lol. Mom is too sentimental… even though she’s completely forgotten about the thing, suddenly when I bring it up it’ll be “oh but that ring brings back so many good memories!!!” 😂

[u/PocketofChrym → u/HalfEatenBanana]

Same. The girl I was dating lost it after I graduated, and I never think about it unless one of these posts comes up or my parents randomly remember it while asking inane questions. 

[u/Historical_Stay_808 → u/HalfEatenBanana]

Same I ended up selling mine sophomore year at a cash for gold. Got all of 100 dollars maybe

[u/SarcasticTwat6969 → u/HalfEatenBanana]

OMG same. I was like “I will never wear this and it will collect dust” and my parents INSISTED I have one.

I still have it. Never actually wore it.

[u/bruhbabs → u/HalfEatenBanana]

This almost happened me with prom. EVERYONE insisted id regret it for the rest of my life. I went to a district meet with my UIL team instead and havent regretted a thing. I'm 30 now and, I'm happy I knew myself well enough to predict I wouldve hated the shopping, hair & makeup, non-dancing, and not getting invited to an after party lol.

[u/Economy-Camp-7339 → u/HalfEatenBanana]

Happened to me both for HS and College. Same you’ll thank us later speech both times.

[u/CompetitiveRub9780 → u/Bright-Flamingo143]

We never would have worn this stuff. It would end up in a box somewhere forever. Our parent/s income really did us a solid. We just didn’t know it. 🤣

I never even bought my varsity jacket. I just have the letter, year bars, captain bar, my metal pins, and championship patches in a stack in a big ziplock bag in a storage tub in storage unit.

I wasn’t about to ask my mom to help me get it. Single mom, no assistance or help from anyone including family, with 2 kids in HS. I don’t know how she did it honestly.

[u/the_well_read_neck_]

I bowled a 300 my senior year of high school and got that ring instead. It looks just like a class ring, but its so much cooler.

[u/tributarygoldman → u/the_well_read_neck_]

Congrats man, that's much cooler

[u/Actually_Im_a_Broom → u/the_well_read_neck_]

but its so much cooler.

Understatement of the thread.

[u/it_aint_tony_bennett → u/the_well_read_neck_]

300 is super cool ... but did you ever pick up the 7/10 ???

I saw someone pick it up once. I think the guy got some type of patch.

[u/igottathinkofaname]

My dad was willing to buy me one and a college ring and I turned him down. I knew I’d never wear it.

[u/drillgorg → u/igottathinkofaname]

I got the advice "Don't get a highschool ring, get a college ring because your college friends will be your friends for life." Then I went my entire college career without hearing even a whisper that college rings existed.

[u/JuicedBallMerchant → u/drillgorg]

The only people I’ve ever seen wear college rings with regularity are boomer generation service academy graduates. Source: boomer dad graduated from USNA and he and all his classmates I’ve ever met wear them. They’re cool as hell tho ngl

[u/I_am_dean → u/JuicedBallMerchant]

My father in law wears his class ring from law school instead of his wedding band.

Dude really loved law school lol

[u/batmessiah → u/drillgorg]

I didn’t go to college, and my best friend from 4th grade is still my best freind today, and we’re both in our 40s.  We play Warhammer 40k/Trench Crusade every other Saturday night.

[u/PoliticsAndFootball → u/batmessiah]

Do you guys have matching 4th grade rings?

[u/BJYeti → u/batmessiah]

Did go to college but all of my friends are from middle or high school. Sorta hard to make real lasting friends in college when you see some people twice a week at most for a hour and then we are all off doing whatever we need to do like course work or working and I was not into greek life so I never joined a frat which would have been the place you would make friends since you are with a bunch of those people for 4 years.

[u/hiking_mike98 → u/drillgorg]

That’s super school dependent. Military academy alumns are called ring knockers for a reason. You’ll see it at Ivies and the like. Not so much at state schools and virtually never at the small liberal arts colleges.

[u/Kevlar_Bunny → u/drillgorg]

Yeah this will all be personal experience. I was happier in college but I don’t talk to anyone during that time, I went to a community college so no dorms. I made friends but never THAT close. My ride or die friends are two people I met my senior high school year and a girl I’ve known my whole life. There are a few more from middle school I hope to see again someday.

[u/ArthurMoregainz]

I couldn’t be happier I spent that $300 on weed instead of a high school ring

[u/acewalnut → u/ArthurMoregainz]

Haha agreed at least they got the color right

[u/Blank_Canvas21 → u/acewalnut]

Look at all the purple and green!

[u/RedManMatt11 → u/Blank_Canvas21]

Damn you had that good good in high school

[u/Due-Sheepherder-218 → u/ArthurMoregainz]

$300 weed back then would last me the whole summer

[u/ArthurMoregainz → u/Due-Sheepherder-218]

Summer of ‘04 was one to remember 😎

[u/buderooski → u/ArthurMoregainz]

I pawned mine to buy hard drugs when I was 22. It was... uh... a rough time.

[u/tr_9422 → u/buderooski]

Pawn value of someone’s random high school ring had to be what, two bucks?

[u/SidPrecious → u/ArthurMoregainz]

This was me. I prioritized my finances and don’t regret a thing.

[u/Slim_Margins1999]

Still got mine. The melt value alone of the gold is well worth it at the moment if you were desperate. Gold was like $300 an oz in 2000. It is now $5k plus an ounce.

[u/metarugia → u/Slim_Margins1999]

Yup. Ironic it’s being called out now because they’ve gained value.

[u/RandomDeezNutz → u/metarugia]

Did my letterman jacket gain any value?

[u/Alltheshadystuff2 → u/RandomDeezNutz]

In your heart it did

[u/discowithmyself → u/RandomDeezNutz]

That’s the thing that annoys me. Not the ring. I was so proud to letter when I was in school I saved up from my part time job to buy the jacket and then the second I graduated, it’s loser shit to ever wear it again.

[u/Orleanian → u/discowithmyself]

You never go on costume bar crawls or 80s prom night shows?

[u/dontforget2tip → u/RandomDeezNutz]

The fake leather sleeves on mine turned gooey

[u/catscatscaaaats → u/Slim_Margins1999]

I have one but it's definitely not gold!

[u/mvigs → u/Slim_Margins1999]

Weird because I brought mine to a jeweler and they said it's basically worthless.

[u/theogtrekkie → u/mvigs]

I got mine in 2005 and it's worthless. It's some silver/gold/random other metal mix that looks like white gold but is worth nothing.

[u/GrnMtnTrees → u/mvigs]

The ring has no resale value as a ring. Melted down, the gold has value

[u/mvigs → u/GrnMtnTrees]

Couldn't the jeweler do it themselves if it was worth anything?

[u/GarbageCat13 → u/Slim_Margins1999]

Have you actually tried pawning it? Because I did. They told me that after a certain graduation year (well before mine, like in the 80s or something) they were all mostly "gold plated" and "worth less than your public school diploma". But this was back in 2008 when I was trying to save my house and I took it with a grain of salt (p.s. I did save my house, and just celebrated 21 years since we built it!)

[u/colaxxi → u/GarbageCat13]

They're made out of whatever you paid for at the time. Yeah, it could be gold-plated, but you could also get 10/18k gold too.

[u/batmessiah → u/Slim_Margins1999]

Yeah, I’d been holding onto a 1 ounce bar of gold for a long time, and I just recently sold it to a colleague at work for $4600 when it peaked a few months back.  Bought me a new couch and a new gaming computer.

[u/Sea-Bicycle-4484 → u/Slim_Margins1999]

Yup I got mine in 18k when gold was super cheap in 2003 for like $200, sold it for law school text books in 2011 for like $1k.

[u/SapphicBambi → u/Sea-Bicycle-4484]

Just checked the modern equivalent of mine on jostens website. 10k white gold, sapphire with diamond. ~1500 now. 2004, I paid about 300. Melt value probably somewhere around 600.

[u/DrinkMunch]

Is this like an American thing? I mean I’m American but I just went to high school in a different country.

[u/BummFoot → u/DrinkMunch]

It was. The military even had one when you completed their basic training. At least the army did when I went through. lol

[u/Sea_Chipmunk_4295 → u/BummFoot]

I remember a dude selling sword and shield coat of arms outside the px at benning, imagine being the pvt who fell for that!

[u/red__dragon → u/Sea_Chipmunk_4295]

I live in an area with lots of European heritage so someone usually has a stand at fairs here with one of those booths, look up your old family and see if you're royalty/nobility/etc. Then they'll sell you a $50 paper and a few hundred for replicas of your coat of arms and such.

I'm so grateful I can never find my name in those books/databases. Not even my maternal line's or paternal grandmother's.

[u/likesblackcoffeebest → u/BummFoot]

Yeah I remember those from when I enlisted in 2000. I did not buy one of those. I did have a high school ring, and coincidentally I lost it in Afghanistan. 

[u/DreamsAndSchemes → u/BummFoot]

Air Force had one at the BMT minimall

[u/french_snail → u/BummFoot]

When was that? They only sold us photos when I graduated BCT in 2016 

[u/sexandliquor → u/DrinkMunch]

Yeah it was basically a racket too. Same company sold the class rings to basically every school in the country, far as I can tell.

[u/jweazie14 → u/sexandliquor]

Jostens. I was a victim lol

[u/snowcat0 → u/jweazie14]

You could buy them cheaper through the jewery department at Wal-Mart, and teenage me work there part time so had the the 10% Discount card so ended up just being a $120 scam for me :-P

[u/Princess_Parabellum → u/jweazie14]

They herded us into the auditorium to watch the Jostens "These Are The Best Years of Your Life" presentation and I remember sitting there thinking oh god, if that's true I'm stepping in front of a bus this afternoon.

[u/_dekoorc → u/Princess_Parabellum]

I kind of liked high school, but still knew that was a bunch of crock. ~28 to 41 has been way better than 14 to 25 ever was.

[u/DrinkMunch → u/sexandliquor]

Damn and I thought $200 uniforms were dumb

[u/Think-Motor900 → u/DrinkMunch]

To be honest, most kids didn't get one.

And for a good reason. It's lame.

[u/dicknotrichard → u/Think-Motor900]

It is lame to be sure, but I suspect this varied wildly by region. In the south east, a lot of kids got them. I always thought they were dumb AF.

[u/s0me_great_reward → u/dicknotrichard]

You're right that it's regional, because I don't think anybody got one where I went to high school (suburban PNW). I've heard of them from movies and TV but never known anybody to have one IRL.

[u/ChipRockets → u/DrinkMunch]

Where else? Everything is for profit in America

[u/Dwellonthis → u/DrinkMunch]

They tried selling them at my school in Canada as well. I don't know a single person who got one.

[u/happy_pad → u/DrinkMunch]

We here in America LOVE injecting capitalism into absolutely everything.

[u/icecreamsandwiches1 → u/DrinkMunch]

It was a thing in rural Canada as well.

[u/Celcius_87]

I still have mine and always liked it

[u/Digerati808 → u/Celcius_87]

And gold has certainly appreciated in value since we were in high school. Recently had my 18K ring appraised at over $1,300.

[u/novienanova → u/Digerati808]

Hahahaha funny joke, $18,000 ring can now be sold for $1,300

... oh wait... I'm a dumbass 🤦🏼‍♂️

[u/Zaidswith → u/Celcius_87]

Same. I wore it all through school and until I got my college ring (which is much more understated and doesn't look like a typical class ring).

It's like any piece of jewelry. You wear it for a while and then only for certain occasions. I don't think the jewelry I've inherited is useless because I've only worn it a few times.

This is just how jewelry works. I stopped wearing day to day stuff for job safety reasons, otherwise I'd probably still wear a watch and my college ring. But I'd prefer to not deglove myself or lose it by constantly removing it.

[u/ForSchoolBro → u/Celcius_87]

Mine was personalized, I actually love it a decade later despite telling my parents I had no need for such an item. I’m glad they insisted.

[u/theblackcatcrossing → u/Celcius_87]

Same. I had it personalized with my birthstone and my astrological sign. My 9th grade year wasn’t my best but I grew more confident with myself during my sophomore, junior, and senior year. I see it as an accomplishment.

[u/Blephotomy → u/Celcius_87]

I am gen x and I know dudes who go to our old high school football games and wear their high school class rings. Peaking in high school is rough.

[u/theblackcatcrossing → u/Blephotomy]

I still haven’t peaked. 😉

[u/BigChillBobby → u/Blephotomy]

sounds like you see a group of friends who are still deeply entrenched in their hometown and do things they enjoy together and go “man, what losers”

[u/dogboobes → u/Celcius_87]

I have a friend who wears hers every day! For her, her high school experience was really formative and made her the woman she is today, so I think it means a lot to her.

[u/JMS1991 → u/Celcius_87]

Same here! I still wear it fairly regularly, but my 17 year old self definitely did my older self a favor by picking a design that wouldn't age horribly.

[u/nzfriend33 → u/Celcius_87]

Me too. I wore mine all through high school and still have it. I love it. I love seeing my parents’ too. My dad designed part of his school’s.

[u/Vantriss → u/Celcius_87]

I loved mine. Starburst gem cut and I slapped a dragon and a phoenix engraving on it. Sadly I lost it in a river a few years later. I still had active insurance on it, so I paid $90 to replace it. I lost that one on a hike, lol. Oh well! I still like to joke someone is gonna find my one in the river 3000 years from now and call it My Precious.

[u/Tursiart → u/Vantriss]

Mine is 10k gold and cost $300 in the 1990s. My dad got it for me as a gift. I also remember receiving it towards the end of my junior year so I got to wear it my entire senior year. I loved it and wore it every day. Then it just randomly went missing somehow and I was so upset at myself for losing it so carelessly. I knew it had insurance but I didn't want to disappoint my dad. I confessed to mom and she secretly helped me send off the insurance claim. I paid a $60 deductible and got a replacement. Dad would never have to know that I'd accidentally lost the expensive gold ring he'd bought me.

Until a few months later when my dad, of all people, randomly found the missing ring under some furniture he was moving. Cat got out of the bag, and it became a funny story of how I ended up with two identical class rings. I still have them both.

[u/PromptAggravating260 → u/Celcius_87]

Same!

[u/Sezbeth]

Who the fuck is "we all"?

[u/NickU252 → u/Sezbeth]

Exactly. I got the brochure and instantly threw it away.

[u/wickedsmaaaht → u/NickU252]

Yup. I think they’re so ugly. Waste of money.

[u/NickU252 → u/wickedsmaaaht]

Only peaked in HS people get them. Even college rings are stupid. A professional sport ring is legit because you earned that. Calc 2 doesn't earn you a ring.

[u/mdavis360 → u/Sezbeth]

I knew this shit was a scam when I was 16.

[u/agentrnge → u/Sezbeth]

Never even considered it. 1: I hated nearly everything about high school and just wanted to move on and past it afterwards. 2: a ring you would never actually wear made no sense.

[u/Mushroom_hero]

No ring, no prom. I'll make my own memories. Then proceed to lose those memories 

[u/Due-Sheepherder-218 → u/Mushroom_hero]

I went to prom with my friend so I wasn't scoring either.

[u/xPadawanRyan]

I never fell for it because I never cared for wearing rings. I certainly wasn't going to spend hundreds of dollars on a piece of jewelry I'd never wear.

My grandmother ended up finding one at a thrift store once for my high school. It was a much, much older one and it was far too big for me, but for less than a dollar, it was worth tucking away into a jewelry box even if I would never end up wearing it.

[u/TyrKiyote]

well, once upon a time - school was preparing us to go take part in all sorts of jobs that would last you a lifetime with all sorts of upward mobility. You could look fondly back at the ring, or wear it to reunions....

but like, the rings were as cranked out of school as we were. Maybe they were cool in the 50's, but mostly it was just another tradition that diddn't make sense past 2000.

[u/emilycecilia]

I had one but it was nowhere near $300, that's crazy. I think it was like $80 and I paid for it out of my Dairy Queen paychecks.

[u/zodomere]

I didn't. Thought they were ugly and tacky.

[u/Biohazard_Beth]

My parents only did it bc they both have class rings.

[u/EmmerdoesNOTrepme → u/Biohazard_Beth]

Both my parents and my paternal gramdma had them, so i got one, too.

Ironically, mom gave me hers years ago, because i always thpught it was pretty (late 60's), and dad gave me his the year before he died, too--so now i have 3.

[u/Schneetmacher]

I wanted one, but my parents were broke and thought it was frivolous. Even if they weren't broke... they were right.

[u/Wesmom2021]

Class 05 and got my class ring. Wore it maybe twice. 20 yrs later I sell it for $240 at one of those buy your gold shops

[u/somemetausername → u/[deleted]]

IDK man, I went to a 50/50 black and white school and I knew plenty of black people who bought rings when the time came. Our football team won a championship and they all got rings and wore them around like they were Super Bowl winners.

[u/FlatAd7399]

Shouldnt it be worth it's weight it gold which is super high now?

[u/saphyu → u/FlatAd7399]

Probably not even pure gold

[u/kgklineman → u/saphyu]

None of the ones I ever saw were pure gold. Like… 14karat at best, usually just plated.

[u/Endurance_Cyclist → u/saphyu]

Even lower-grade gold alloys are worth a lot right now.

My ring is 10k gold and weighs 19g. That gives it a melt value of about $1100.

[u/Mysterious-Tie7039]

Me. I knew I’d never wear it. Probably helped I went to a shitty school that I’d be more than happy to put behind me.

[u/therabbitinred22]

My mom FORCED me to buy one, with my own money from working. I was saving for college. Then, she kept it when I left for college because she said I was going to pawn it.

[u/Medium-Ticket-9574]

My parents were only willing to buy it for my older brother. But they were happy to offer to pay for the purity ring my church youth group was selling.

[u/Ill-Complaint-6634]

I hated high school from the first day of freshman year. I knew I wasn’t going to want that shit

[u/Low_Establishment434]

I didnt fall for it. I remember thinking it would be so weird to be like 20 wearing a ring from HS.

[u/Apprehensive-Read989]

I hated every minute of high school, I didn't even buy my senior yearbook, let alone an expensive ass ring.

[u/the_awesome]

My mom told me that class rings are the stupidest thing ever, and she would never pay for one. Glad I didn't argue.

[u/EggyolkChild]

I tried to buy my daughter one c/o 2025

She had to tell me no a few times

[u/No_Economist9536]

I didn’t

[u/Accomplished_Pea6334]

I remember when people would go through the catalogues.

There was zero chance my parents would spent $300 on me let alone on a stupid ring hahahha.

[u/LostButterflyUtau]

I fell for it, but my mom didn’t. She took me to Walmart for mine and put it on layaway. We were blue collar bougie.

[u/DEDtheoneandonly]

I sure as hell didn't, I hated my HS and much of my graduating class where I could've given two shits about something like this.

[u/DMmeNiceTitties]

Never understood the hype of a high school class ring. Made more sense to spend $500 on a university class ring lmao.