Melissa Aguilar |
As the last of the summer’s warmth begins to fade, students around campus can be seen strolling barefoot outside their dorms. But long after everyone else takes to their fleeces and rain boots, sophomore nursing student Katie May will still be forgoing shoes.
Instead of giving up chocolate or Facebook during Lent last spring, May gave up something more challenging—shoes.
She saw not wearing shoes as an opportunity to explore in her daily faith experience and get out of her comfort zone.
“Whether it’s not wearing shoes,” May said, “or something else that pushes you past your limits, I think it’s important for people to kind of delve into that realm of what they haven’t experienced before.”
2014 alumna Tai White-Toney, who went to Costa Rica with May through FISH, a Christian group on campus, recalled a time May went for a run in the rain, leaving her feet torn up and bloody.
“She didn’t really complain about it,” White-Toney said. “She does everything with a lot of grace and a lot of beauty. I think that’s a really hard thing to do.”
Though some people were skeptical about her decision, her family and friends were supportive.
“When there’s something she wants to do, she doesn’t really care if it’s not what everybody else is doing,” said junior Nate Mattix. “She’s just like ‘I want to do it, therefore I will.’”
Part of May’s inspiration for going barefoot was her experience working with the homeless population in Spokane, Washington and orphaned youth in Haiti.
May said she was hesitant about going to Haiti and signed up at the last minute.
“God was like, ‘You’re going to go on this trip.’ And I said ‘No thanks, God. I’m good,’” May said. “And finally I was like, ‘Fine, I can’t deny what you’re telling me. [So I] dropped everything and I was like ‘Ok, I’m signing up for this trip.’”
During the Haiti trip May met her fiance, Manuel Garcia, who is currently in the Air Force in Phoenix, Arizona. The two plan to get married next July. After May graduates, they will travel overseas as a part of Garcia’s six-year military commitment.
Even though it may seem irrational to get married so young, May is confident in her decision.
“Everything I do seems spontaneous and irresponsible, but it always ends up coming around and [my friends and family] always end up realizing later that it turned out to be beautiful,” she said.
May still wears shoes where they’re required, like restaurants, and at OHSU’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, where she volunteers. She works with children undergoing chemotherapy and those with neurological disorders.
After Lent, May continued going barefoot because she now finds it more comfortable than wearing shoes. The experience taught her endurance and empathy for those without access to shoes.
“It’s a constant journey where I’m fighting being ignorant to or blinded to the people that are around me. That are right in front of me that,” May said. “I could be loving and I could be getting to know and I think that in a way walking barefoot strikes up conversation.”
She plans to have periods of being barefoot for the rest of her life, as her circumstances allow.
When not in class or volunteering, May leads song and worship for FISH and at her Hillsboro church. Her love of song led her to audition for the fall musical on a whim and she landed a leading role.
“Before I really started getting out of my comfort zone, I was missing moments all the time.” May said. “You have one chance. And you’re about to miss it. And if you miss it that chance it’s gone.”
Melissa Aguilar is a reporter for The Beacon. You can reach her at aguilarm16@up.edu.
