OB: At the Real Estate firm that I interned at, they have this massive brass bell in the lobby that no one is allowed to touch. When a new agent closes their very first deal, the entire office stops working and the intern rings the bell as hard as they can. We weren’t allowed to decorate our desk or put up our nameplate until the bell was rung.

Context: The informant is a senior majoring in business who I met during a group project. He witnessed and eventually participated in this ritual of initiation in a formal business setting. To him, the bell ringing felt like a public and declaritive validation of his professional worth.

Analysis: This is a ritual of initiation as well as a transformation ritual. He not only was initiated into a new group of people with shard folkloristic practices, he was also transformed into an official worker for the company, marking a period in which he became a legitimate member of a community. This status elevation ceremony transitions him from a state of dependency to a state of agency.