When junior Justin Anderson walks into his always-loud B3 class, he is either in his ROTC uniform or his personal uniform: a colorful hoodie and a pair of crocs. 

During the first few weeks of junior year, his classmates slowly began to pick up on his croc-rotation. He has four pairs, and each class, he seems to wear a different color. Anderson sits in the back corner. Objectively, the most laughter comes from his area.

“Crocs are amazing, don’t get me wrong, because they’re so comfortable and at the same time don’t try to be cool,” Anderson said. 

Today he is wearing an extra large shirt (he is most definitely not an extra large) and red crocs. He is one of those people no one can quite pin down, from his fascination with oranges and reluctance to use spoons to his heavy croc-rotation. The crocs, though, are much more than a way for Anderson to define himself. 

 “My grandmother started getting sick and going to the hospital regularly. My first pair that I started to wear around a lot–the red ones–were hers, and one of the main things I got from her when she was alive,”  Anderson said.

After a long battle, his grandmother passed away last spring. Anderson was 16.  He rarely got to visit her, as she lived in Oklahoma, but he likes to think she made crocs her thing too.

“I’m sure she did because they’re fricking amazing,” Justin said. “I think we are so similar, but as a little kid it’s hard to get close to someone you’ve only heard stories about. But when you get kind of more mature and feel like you can talk to them, it’s harder because they have to lay down and sleep most of the time.”

Anderson describes his personality as a box of chocolates, explaining that he can be many things.

“Sometimes I’m insane but others I can be calm and collected. It’s weird, I can choose what to let some people know about me and form their opinion of me,” Anderson said.

Whatever that opinion may be, everyone knows he is the go-to person for lifting the mood of the entire class. He walks, smiling, into B3 with his bright red crocs, simultaneously defining who he is and keeping his grandmother close by.