Do you ever walk around school looking at people’s shoes? For the past year, I have. If you look around, there isn’t always very much exciting about the collection of hoodies, South gear and yoga pants. But the variety in footwear is very telling.

Maybe it’s because I am somewhat of a foot fanatic – not in the way you’re thinking, you pervert. I’ve been taking foot pictures since before it was hipster (woah, meta hipster moment). I tend to take these pictures whenever my feet are in an interesting place, but it has made me think about the shoes I wear, the shoes others wear and where they take us.

There’s Converse: classic, various color choices and able to make any outfit casual enough for school.

There’s Uggs: the rage of middle school life but a symbol for “I didn’t sleep enough last night and it might freaking snow today” in this segment of life.

Timberland boots trudge their way through the halls of GBS frequently, making us all look like we should be able to fix a car even though only like 20 percent of us can.

Of course there’s always many Nikes and Adidas and Doc Martins and like five other big shoe brands strutting their stuff around the halls.

But then there’s the others. There’s a whole world of shoes without a big brand label just stepping about from class to class. Those shoes are the most interesting of all to me.

Those are the shoes that are maybe three trends behind, but someone keeps wearing them because they’re his favorite. They are the new pair of pilgrim looking shoes I bought because they were on sale, and turned out to be super comfy. They are the cheap sandals you buy each summer to destroy in those three months of running, exploring and general shenanigan making.

Let me tell you, my shoes have taken me on so many adventures. My gym shoes climbed mountains in Germany. My snow boots trudged home through three feet of snow. There is a flip-flop of mine on a railroad track somewhere in Italy because I lost it boarding a train. Then there’s my old pair of Converse that jumped with me in a lake, ran through fields, got painted twice and now feature one purple shoelace with a hashtag I still haven’t read on it.

My shoes have carried me from place to place, day to day. They have protected me from the cold, hard ground when I needed them to ,and they were ready to be left behind when it was time for barefoot days on the beach. I bet yours have been there for you too.

I’m not encouraging you to create a feetsta (feet featuring instagram account). But, take a minute, look down, and remember where you’ve been in those shoes on your feet. Where have they taken you? Where will they bring you next?