I pretended like I was a princess and that my sister was the prince ...

My love of Korean culture began on my birthday, the day I turned four years old. My mom's friend came to my birthday. She was my best friend at my mom's work. As a present, she gave me a pair of Korean shoes. The shoes came all the way from Korea!

I love my wonderful pair of Korean shoes. My shoes are made of rubber! On the sides are colorful strips of red, green, yellow, and blue. The background of the shoes is a color in the middle of beige and sky blue. On the edge of the shoes is a red border.
The shoes look like they belong to a genie!

When I was six, I pretended to be a fan dancer for hours all over the house. I pretended that I was a princess, and that my sister was the prince, so we danced forever to the Beatles' song, "The Night Before."

Jamee

The experience I had in the military was one that I was completely unprepared for.

Unless you have walked in my shoes you would not know how life would be a complete revelation of ups and downs. The experience I had in the military I was totally unprepared for. My ambition was to fight for my country as I was always patriotic.

It was in 1943 and I was sent to Des Moines, Iowa in the freezing cold winter. Getting up at 4:30 a.m. to march through the frozen fields, that was the period of basic training. I also learned to salute all the officers.

After 6 weeks I was sent to Tucson, Arizona where the summer heat was blistering. The winds created heavy dust in the barracks and I was punished when the commanding officer came in for a white glove inspection and found dust on my windowsill!! I scrubbed the toilets for 21 days.

When I went home for a short furlough my mother suddenly died. She died because there were not enough nurses in the ward to administer oxygen which she needed.

Returning to the base, I was befriended by a Hispanic girl who had me come to her home. They tried to teach me spanish and I turned a deaf ear to that. How stupid I was. I could have earned at least $100,000 more during my lifetime with that skill. But more important, I would have been able to communicate with so many more wonderful people.

I was sent to Mitchel Field, New York, where I was assigned the position of going to high schools and colleges to recruit young men and women to join the army. The experiences in the military provide a basis of a successful future. My shoes have carried me a long way.

Mary Cohen

My feet kept my boots in the stirrups, which kept me in the saddle!

Unless you have walked in my shoes you cannot know how to ride a horse and feel completely safe. I have been riding horses since I was two years old. My grandmother put on my first pair of boots and put me on the horse. It was first of many amazing experiences. Even as a toddler, I felt so safe when I was wearing my special shoes. My boots kept my feet in the stirrups, which kept me in the saddle.

I feel most fantastic when I am on a horse. The wind assaults my face and refreshes me as I ride in a circle. One my chestnut horse named Nikey I ride really fast while he tries to buck me off like a bull. But when I'm wearing my boots I always stay on. Sometimes I jump and ride bareback.

While riding with my boots on it makes riding fun because I can challenge myself without fear. What I learned from my shoes is to always wear them while riding a horse that tries to buck you off of their back. Without my boots my feet will slip out of the stirrups. It is hard to ride without boots on, as well as trying to ride with a broken finger. I got bucked off when I was three years old and broke my finger.

Jesse