Each person has a unique set of likes and dislikes

Each person has a unique set of likes and dislikes that forms their personalities. Some people like to make bold statements of who they are. They do this through the way they dress and how they interact with others. Other people like to blend in with their environment. They also do this through dress and actions. In that way we are similar to the animal kingdom. Some animals have distinctive and flashy appearances like the tiger and others are camouflaged to blend into their surroundings.

One of my friends in college went out of her way to stand out in a crowd. She was not loud or offensive, but you always knew when she walked into a room. We belonged to the same sorority and even when we all dressed in black skirts and white blouses for events she some how stood out amongst the rest of us. It was a tradition with our sorority to buy a similar ring when we were in our senior year. This friend suggested that we buy black pearl rings rather than the traditional pearls. A few of the other sorority sisters were against this idea. They felt that a big part of being in a sorority is carrying on traditions. We went shopping together to the jeweler that has supplied the rings for several generations. He had four basic styles to choose from that have been used in years past. Our one sister asked to see what he had in black pearl rings. He had three settings with the shiny beautiful black pearl in. He told us that he had a very nice selection of black pearls and that they could be placed in any of the traditional settings to replace the white pearls.

We all liked the black pearl rings. We were discussing making the break from tradition when the jeweler told us that several years ago one group from our sorority bought ruby rings because four of the women that year had a July birthday and the ruby is the birthstone for that month. Once the head of our sorority found out that others had made a break from tradition she agreed that we should buy the black pearl rings. She did feel very strongly that since we were breaking from tradition we should all have the same setting. Eventually we all agreed on a setting and the jeweler sized us and let us know that the rings would be available in two weeks. When they were arrived we all knew that we had made the right choice. The rings were distinctive and classic at the same time. I still wear mine on a daily basis.