By Alicia Sanchez
Items can have either monetary value or sentimental value. At times, they have both. The worth of each depends on an individual’s own preferences.
Student’s know what the definition of sentimental value is. Senior Anna Piazza said sentimental value is, “the worth of something in the heart, not by monetary worth.” According to Junior Sophia Smith, “Sentimental value is something that holds tremendous, priceless value to the beholder.” Not only do students know the definition of sentimental value, they also know what monetary value means. Freshman John Lara said that it is “something worth a lot of money.” Sophomore Leonardo Baca said, “It means money and currency.”
Money is just as valuable as sentiments and memories to a number of people. According to Sophia Smith, they are both important because “someone had to buy the things that have sentimental value,” which means they also hold some sort of monetary value. Photo by: Alicia Sanchez
The importance of sentimental value as opposed to monetary value varies from student to student. Lara said, “Sentimental [is more important] because to you it is worth something and keeps memories with you when something expensive is just something that can be replaced easily.” Contrary to what Lara said, Smith said, “I think sentimental value and monetary value are both important. Someone had to buy the things that have sentimental value because they become sentimental.”
Other people in the world stress the importance of monetary value over sentimental value, and vise versa. Why they do this can vary. Baca said that people value things highly, even if they are not worth much money, “because they think of it as their friend or family. People can have sentimental value towards a bird they had for years because they’ve both went through so much.” Piazza said, “There is a story behind the object. That story and that memory has a much higher value than money,” and that is why they may value something with no monetary worth so much. Lara believed that people who value money over memories “don’t care about memories as much as someone else might.” Smith said a number of people stress the importance of monetary value over sentimental value because “American pop-culture is centered around materialism.”
A painting that is given as a gift is just one example of items that can hold sentimental value to a person. Sentimental value can make giving up said items much more difficult, according to a number of high school students. Photo by: Alicia Sanchez
There are many things people can place sentimental value on, and these items can affect an individual’s mood in different ways. Baca said, “A teddy bear, a bike, a chessboard, a toy car, a piece of paper with writing on it, a picture, almost anything [can hold sentimental value.]” Piazza said, “Examples [of items with sentimental value] are my stuffed doll I got from my grandma when I was two, my clarinet which is old and crappy and cheap but has so many memories, and my lanyard which has held my first keys.” The ways certain items can affect an individual’s mood varies. Lara said, “If lost, it can make you upset or mad. If you have it, you might smile at the memory and have a good mood.” Baca said, “It can affect my mood by reminding me of past experiences I have forgotten, flooding me with past thoughts.”
Gifts from loved ones have both forms of value, and can make it difficult for students to give up. Piazza said, “I definitely appreciate gifts that are from the heart because they show how much someone cares for you.” Because of this, Smith said, “I think it would be harder to give up a sentimental item as opposed to an expensive item because you can’t gain back that sentimentality in something different. If I gave up a picture of my grandpa, I might not ever see that picture again. It would be like losing a memory.”