Juniors celebrate their new rings

It starts on the Upper Parade Ground; with the command forward march, the juniors in the Corps march down to Plumley, while the civilian students make their way to Milano Ballroom for their dinner.

For some juniors, this is the night they have been waiting for since they walked onto campus as freshmen.

On the weekend of April 15-17, the juniors at Norwich received their class ring, which will become one of the most prized items received at Norwich.

"The ceremony went very well. That is probably the biggest part of it as that is what the juniors have been waiting for," said Ross Reid, 23, a junior criminal justice major from Fort Hood, Texas.

The class rings at Norwich are a major part of the school. The ring tradition started in 1923 and has continued every year since then.

But what does the ring mean to the students who received them?

According to James Weigle, "The ring means a lot to me. It's not so much a culmination of my Norwich career; it's more of an addition. We've been sworn to uphold the standard of not lying, cheating, stealing (and) toleration, the ring is a promise, if you will, that you will continue to do it after graduation and commissioning," said the junior biology major form Lyndeborough, N.H.

"It represents proud Norwich tradition. It is a tangible piece of evidence that makes all the tough and frustrating times worthwhile and it symbolizes the choice we made to set ourselves apart from the rest and come to a military school," said Reid. "I was also vice-chair of the ring committee so I was involved with the design, planning of the unveiling and ceremonies and deciding eligibility issues, so for me it also makes all the hard work worthwhile!"

"My honest feelings when I got the ring weren't what I even expected. Not to sound like I didn't really appreciate it, but I wasn't nearly as excited as most others were. To me it was more of a symbol. It wasn't so much the ring that excited me; it was the company I shared that weekend," Weigle said.

For Jim Gentile, the chair of the ring committee for the corps, the ring means a lot.

 "It's the embodiment of why I came here.  Going through the processes of checking eligibility of all the people in my class, you really get a feel of who is deserving of it and who is not," said the junior psychology major from Mahwah, N.J.

"The ring committee and I were pretty stressed out leading up to [the ceremony] so it was nice to accomplish it and have the ceremony go so smoothly. After that initial reaction I just felt proud and accomplished," said Reid.

After graduation the ring changes from a symbol of one's class to a symbol of the school as a whole.

"I often hear from alumni in the military, that the ring means a lot. Norwich has a good reputation and the ring is a way of conveying that reputation immediately. It is a talking point in the business sector too and looks professional," said Reid.

"… I think that we wear the ring 2012 side because we're always looking forward to that date. We're going to have to pass a great divide into the real world and have to deal with responsibilities on our own," said Weigle.

"The stone symbolizes the time we spend here at Norwich. Stress and pressure make diamonds and every single one of us are diamonds, some a higher grade than others but diamonds nonetheless. Even those who have stampers it symbolizes that

Norwich has ‘left its imprint' on the very fabric of our souls whether we like it or not. Graduation marks not only a transition in our lives but also a transition in the aspect of our rings," he said.