While it may be  stylish and hip to wear the Sperry’s , the problems start  once you take them off.

I learned this the hard way last year after a volleyball game when I left my Sperry’s outside of my locker.

After the game,  I noticed something was missing–two things, actually. That’s when I spotted a discarded pair of shoes near the locker room door. I thought they must be mine and that someone must have moved them, so I scooped up my shoes and returned home, thinking nothing of the incident.

But the next morning, my feet hurt in my Sperry’s. I checked the flaps and saw both were a size 6! Two sizes too small!  After classes,  I went back to the locker room and inspected every square inch of its dull concrete for my departed shoes. When nothing turned up, I decided I could either go barefoot or scuff my way out of the building.

I was happy to get second pair of Sperry’s, but the purchase was conditional:  I had to swear to my mother that I would write my name on the inside tongues of my shoes and accept the responsibility of keeping them in a safe place.

To this day, I still write my name in each pair of new Sperry’s.

by Gabby Mason’15