Shelling out extra cash for shoes

By Chelsea Medlock

Broke college student are three words that comfortably go together. However, students still spend money they do not have on things they do not need. Sometimes these items are expensive, making students have to work hard in order to afford them.

One of these expensive items that students are willing to spend large amounts of money on, are shoes. Each student has a reason for why they shell out extra cash for shoes they may be able to buy for a cheaper price.

Some students like to buy shoes for the style and brand names. They want to look good walking around in their expensive shoes. Business administration major Paul Chavarria bought a pair of Jordan shoes for $300 as a reward for all of his hard work.

Chavarria worked hard to earn the money for his shoes having worked two jobs prior to getting his busser job that allowed him to be able to afford his shoes.

“I bought my first pair of expensive shoes back in 2011 through my job as a full-time busser,” Chavarria said. “I got my second check and wanted black and red Jordan 11’s from Footlocker.”

However, for some students, shoes are a necessity for the sports they participate in. Some sports such as baseball and soccer require special expensive shoes in order to play. Kinesiology major Jimmy Bautista had to buy expensive wrestling shoes in order to wrestle in high school. In order to buy the necessary shoes, Bautista had to spend money he earned from his part-time job.

“Most expensive shoes I bought were $120 for wrestling in high school,” Bautista said. “I no longer wrestle but can still fit a size 10 shoe.”

Sometimes students spend extra money on shoes in order to get better quality shoes that will last longer. By spending extra money, students would not have to constantly buy shoes since shoes of better quality last longer. Environmental engineering major Aaron Page bought an expensive pair of leather shoes for fire fighting. Page worked as a bartender for an entire year before saving enough money to be able to purchase his shoes.

“I bought $300 leather boots for fire fighting during the summer,” Page said.

More than a year after his initial purchase of his leather shoes, Page still wears them even while not working for the fire department. The quality of the shoes and the investment of the shoes make the purchase worth the while.