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Pomona_x000D_
sophomore Claire Dickey doesn’t like to wear shoes. But before you ask why, Dickey_x000D_
has a question for you: Why do you wear shoes?
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“Walking is what your feet are_x000D_
meant for,” Dickey said.
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Dickey grew up in New Hampshire,_x000D_
where she started going barefoot regularly in her senior year of high school. At_x000D_
first her choice was based on comfort, but resistance to her shoe-free_x000D_
lifestyle made her more determined to continue.
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“My teachers would tell me I had to_x000D_
wear shoes,” Dickey said. “I would be like, ‘No, I don’t really.'”
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After snowy New Hampshire winters,_x000D_
Dickey said “walking around barefoot all year long here is really awesome. I_x000D_
feel like I ought to just to remind myself that it is really nice out.”
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Dickey isn’t alone in her desire to_x000D_
let her feet touch the Claremont ground directly. Morgan Luckey HM ’14 started_x000D_
leaving her shoes in the dorm during first-year orientation. Luckey credits her_x000D_
continued lack of shoes partly to laziness, but also to “something about the_x000D_
campus and nice smooth cement,” and the “rather fuzzy” Scripps grass. “It’s fun not to go around in_x000D_
shoes,” Luckey said. “It makes the whole day more relaxed and casual.”
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However, it is this casual_x000D_
appearance that occasionally gets the barefoot into trouble. While Luckey has_x000D_
had no trouble from professors about wearing shoes (and even has some_x000D_
professors who prefer to go shoeless at times as well), Dickey has faced some_x000D_
opposition.
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“I was giving a presentation and my_x000D_
professor told me it was rude that I wasn’t wearing shoes, which was really_x000D_
surprising to me,” Dickey said. “I wasn’t dressed sloppily, it was just that I_x000D_
didn’t have shoes on… It felt very silly to me.”
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Another fan of nude feet and a member of_x000D_
Dickey’s sponsor group, Alex Lammers PO ’14, was kicked out of the dining hall_x000D_
five times in his first week at Pomona for his lack of shoes. Now he carries flip-flops_x000D_
in his backpack for meals.
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“There’s something about shoes on_x000D_
my feet I don’t like,” Lammers said. “It’s claustrophobic.”
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Unlike Luckey and Dickey, Lammers_x000D_
lived most of his life without bothering with shoes. “I grew up on a bison ranch in_x000D_
South Dakota,” Lammers said. “I walked out on the gravel and the grass_x000D_
barefoot.”
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In fact, one of Lammers’ first_x000D_
barefoot memories was when his horse stepped on his foot and split it open. But Lammers_x000D_
wasn’t scared away by his old injury, nor by more recent unpleasant_x000D_
experiences. “A friend stepped in dog poop,”_x000D_
Lammers said. “Blacktops get really hot; I once got a blister on my foot from_x000D_
the heat. It’s a grossness factor. As long as you can bear having your feet_x000D_
dirty and stepping in some gum occasionally, it’s not a big deal.”
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In addition to the ‘grossness_x000D_
factor’ Luckey said, “You have to learn to walk differently… I normally walk_x000D_
heel first, and last year I wore down my heels so much that they cracked and_x000D_
started bleeding.”
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“You have to walk on your toes,”_x000D_
Lammers said, “which helps your posture a lot. You’re more upright and_x000D_
balanced.” Luckey feels this balance applies to all areas of her life._x000D_
She said going barefoot helped her “just to relax and not worry too much about_x000D_
following the rules. I don’t know how many people wear their shoes in their_x000D_
room, but it’s extending your room to the outside,” Luckey concluded.
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Dickey never self-identified as someone who doesn’t wear_x000D_
shoes; rather, she simply realized that “if you’re in hallways or just walking around,_x000D_
there’s no real reason to wear shoes, so it seemed silly to me that everyone_x000D_
felt like they had to. I figured, why not not do it? It seems like if you don’t take time to run around barefoot_x000D_
in the grass, then you might be missing out on something,” Dickey said. “If_x000D_
you’ve never done it, you really ought to.”
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