In my first high school I lettered in swimming and track and band (I marched and played in concert band in my sophomore year). Starting as a Junior in my second high school (in a new community), I went on to earn a bunch more letters in cross country running, swimming, and track.
In my first high school I got a class ring with a swimmer on one side and our mascot (an AWSOME looking tiger) on the other. Gave that ring up to have it remanufactured to my second school's ring. The swimmer on that one was not as nice; he is standing prior to the start, but he has no feet; they're cut off by a chevron figure at the bottom. That ring is too small for me to wear now and I don't really feel a great fondness for it anyway.
In my second high school, I also got a letter jacket and a letter sweater. We would wear the sweaters in school on cross country, track, or swimming meet days. By the time I graduated, I had my letters loaded down with pins. I also put my first high school's pins on the second high school's jacket, since I
did earn them. So I had something like nine or eleven pins total (3 per year X 3 years total plus the band pin). I also had stripe pins, but I don't remember what those were for.
I did go on to college and earned three letters in swimming while studying for my bachelor's degree. I didn't get a ring for my bachelor's degree; preferring to just get the hell out and get into the workforce. I didn't do any other sports or play in band in college, however if I were to do it over again, I think I would have somehow tried to add cross country or band, although I know not were I would have found find the time.
Several years ago I finished my Master of Science degree (in IT). No sports or letters of course, but I did treat myself to a class ring which I wear on special occasions. I think it's very rare for people to get rings for advanced degrees.
The master's ring similar to my high school rings; gold with black recesses and with the same colored stone as my high school rings. Sometimes acquaintances mistake it for a high school ring, and they're surprised when (if) they learn it's for a master's degree. No swimmers or mascots on this one, of course. It has the school's main architectural feature on one side, and IT imagery on the other. Side note: One of those images is a
CRT monitor and a keyboard similar to a Model-M, along with a 3.5" floppy disk and what appears to be a
cartridge tape (maybe a 3980?). None of those things is relevant anymore and the ring isn't even ten years old! How quickly times change.
Sometime in the next 5 to 7 years, I think I would like to begin work on another master's degree or maybe a doctorate. I would definitely buy another ring if I earned a doctorate, and this time it would look much more like an NFL Superbowl ring and not at all like my master's ring.
A little personal philosophy here: I feel it's important to reward yourself when you accomplish something big with your life. Each time you earn a new degree, you change yourself, your life, your opportunities, and you impact those around you (hopefully in a good way). When you earn a degree WHILE WORKING a full time job, I think it's an even bigger deal. So I'm willing to splurge for something like that. Well that
and a party.