A Reflection on the Class of 2023 Ring Ceremony

A Reflection on the Class of 2023 Ring Ceremony

By Student Contributor Sophia Carroll ('23)

At the beginning of her third year of high school, a student at Saint Agnes Academy may think she has a long way to go before the highly anticipated Junior Class Ring Ceremony. She spends months imagining how the ring will lay on her finger or how it will twinkle in the sunlight. She waits patiently but with incredible excitement, just as thousands of girls have done before her. 

Furthermore, when the month of January emerges in the new year, the frantic preparations for the Ring Ceremony commences. Spending their days browsing online boutiques and deciding on the appropriate hairdo for the ceremony, the Juniors of SAA become obsessed with the anticipation of finally receiving their class rings. However, among this scramble for elegant dresses and manicure appointments, the tradition and history of Saint Agnes Academy’s Ring Ceremony hangs over the excitement as the most intricate (yet often overlooked) component of this one-of-a-kind celebration.

The girls of the Saint Agnes Class of 2023 received their class rings during a beautiful ceremony at St. Michael Church on January 26th.  With bountiful blessings and prayers, each student walked one by one to the front of the Church for the Upper School’s Dean Valdez to bestow the meaningful jewelry. Multiple alumnae relatives also presented class rings to their next generation, continuing the tradition of passing down ancestral rings as the years pass. After all the rings were presented, the history of the small hoop was announced to the congregation. Sitting with lingering adrenaline, the girls looked down at their rings as Junior Class President Caroline Weems explained the meaning behind their new finger band.

Famous for their symbolic design, these unique rings represent a beloved generational history. When she peers down to her finger, a Junior first sees the black onyx triangle. It represents the three persons of the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Sitting behind this triangle is a round gold plate, which represents the unity of the class itself with God placed in the center. Perhaps the most precious on the ring are the nine milky white pearls hugging the plate, representing purity. This design is a dedication to the original Dominican Sisters who founded Saint Agnes Academy in 1851.

The way the ring is worn is also important and symbolic: It is worn with the tip of the triangle pointing away from the body until graduation, representing the search for herself in the world. After graduation, the ring is turned around so that the triangle’s pinnacle points towards the body, representing the newfound womanhood and growth that comes with finishing high school.

Days after the ceremony, Juniors can be found showing off their rings to underclassmen in the halls. They cherish and glance at it in every class, and some are even rumored to sleep with it on. However, the history and powerful ceremonial traditions of the ring give that special day a new meaning; this is not just a new accessory. The Saint Agnes Academy class ring is an artifact of soul and spirit. It signifies the unbreakable bond and community of the school’s sisterhood, including those of the past generations and those that have yet to come.