by Esther P. Chase

Charms For my College Years

College- just the thought of it sends chills down my spine. Where would I like to attend? Where will I be accepted? Can I drift for a year (or two) before declaring a major? Will I make new friends? A whole new world was opening to me. The thought of living away from home made me treasure the mundane; my dolls, stuffed animals, frilly bedroom. Although I applied to several colleges, my first choice was the University of Delaware for their highly recognized pre-med program. The day I received my acceptance letter, I logged onto www.chains-and-charms.com to select one of the 14K gold charms for Delaware. I would soon be a "Blue Hen"- the thought is daunting. The first few weeks were a blur of shopping, checking lists, setting up "staging areas," (for everything that had to be loaded in the U-Haul), shopping, rechecking lists. How my parents and I maintained our sanity is a question to this day.

Freshman move-in day finally arrived. My parents and I did a lot of reminiscing during the drive to campus (and I listened to a lot of advice!) Nevertheless, the parting was tearful. I looked to my charms bracelet for courage and reminded myself I was a certified college freshman. Settling into college dorm life was a blast: exciting, intimidating, lonely, and broadening, all at the same time. I met my closest and best college friend on my first day. I didn't know it at the time, but we have remained friends all these years. It was our mutual addiction to our charm bracelet charms that started our friendship. As we checked out each other's bracelet charms and related the story associated with each of the jewelry charms, we realized how much we had in common. We discovered we had both been given our charms bracelets for our 16th birthday! We also had several of the same jewelry charms, hers were usually sterling silver charms or 14K white gold charms, while mine were mostly 14K gold charms in yellow gold. I did join the archery club (a fun endeavor and easy to accumulate extra credits.) I was never good enough to make the team, but I did add an archery charm to my charms bracelet.

During one of my searches on www.chains-and-charms.com I saw the beauty pageant charms in sterling silver charms or 14K gold charms. I daydreamed for a while about entering the sorority beauty pageant, but decided it wasn't my style. I recall the "angst" (there has to be a stronger word for what we suffered) waiting to see if we would be "rushed" by the sorority of our choice. It goes without saying, we both wanted to join the same sorority. We endured weeks of nail biting anxiety before receiving our bids to join, we pledged and (fortunately) became part of the pledge class. After our initiation, we finally became sisters! We immediately researched www.chains-and-charms.com looking for Greek key charms for our charms bracelets. My friend selected the 14K white gold charm; I chose the 14K gold charm for my bracelet. I had played hockey and soccer in high school, and continued these sports in college. When I made the varsity teams, I rewarded myself with a field hockey charm from the Rembrandt charms collections of 14K gold charms. I also selected a soccer charm from the 14K gold charms collection. My charms bracelet is really looking good with my collection of 14K gold charms and sterling silver charms on my 14K gold charms bracelet. All of these charms signifying milestones in my life and when I was still in college!

My college experience was very broadening-so many choices (both social and educational) so little time. Is it possible we're checking (and double checking) our credits to be sure we qualify for graduation? I entered college as an awkward, rather shy, teenager. Four years later (contemplating graduation), I realize I've become a poised, confident young lady. My confidence is boosted by my 3.9 GPA! My parents are very proud of my accomplishments. They have given me permission to log onto www.chains-and-charms.com, and select a 14K gold charms for my charm bracelet, and charge it to them! My friend and I spend considerable time on www.chains-and-charms.com deciding on bracelet charms to commemorate this huge milestone in our lives. We both decided on diploma charms. I order the 14 K gold charm for my charms bracelet. My friend orders hers from the sterling silver charms collection. The actual college graduation ceremony seemed dull and staid in comparison to high school graduation. High school graduation is relief (we made it!) and the anticipation of college looms with joining the "adult" world and the job search.

Chapter 5 - Grand Tour of Europe