For Maite

By Safina Center Junior Fellow Katlyn Taylor

It’s been just over a year since the tragic events at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, TX.

While most of the coverage and stories about the incident are too much to bear, what some of the media focused on were the hopes and dreams of the children who lost their lives.

One of the girls, Maite Yuleana Rodriguez was only identified by her green converse high tops that she had worn to school that day. She had drawn a heart on the toe of the right shoe.

Maite wanted to be a Marine Biologist when she grew up.

I called my parents a few times that week. They’re newly retired public educators, so our conversations about school shootings had been worked over many times in the past decade. When we saw Maite’s shoes in the White House press conference two weeks later, my mom offered to buy me a pair.

It hurts my heart to see so many people lose their lives to gun violence in the USA. For years I have been looking for a productive way to honor and advocate for them: voting, marching, and amplifying voices.

I had been thinking for weeks about what I would do with the shoes when they arrived. I am a Marine Biologist who had the chance to grow up. So, I decided to wear the shoes in places Marine Biologists get to go to. I take her to my job and on adventures around the world. I want to take the spirit of Maite, and other kids like her, everywhere I go. Wearing these shoes is my nonverbal form of protest. Taking the memory of those lost to gun violence, like Maite, with me to places of adventure and joy.

Here are all the places we went together in the past year:

I took her to work on a whale watching boat on Monterey Bay, CA.

Naturalist tools on the dash of the High Spirits, Monterey Bay, CA. ©Katlyn Taylor

I took her to look for migrating butterflies and birds in Santa Cruz, CA. We watched the sunset with Nelson the red footed booby.

Natural Bridges State Park & Santa Cruz Wharf CA ©Katlyn Taylor

I took her to Maui. She came whale watching with me in Māʻalaea and Lāhainā.

At the helm of Ocean Explorer, Māʻalaea HI. ©Katlyn Taylor

At the helm of Ocean Discovery, Lāhainā HI. ©Katlyn Taylor

We also looked for turtles on the beaches in Kīhei.

Green sea turtles resting on the beach, Kīhei HI. ©Katlyn Taylor

I took her to Antarctica! All the way to 64°S.

The Lemaire Channel, Antarctica from the back deck of M/V Plancius. ©Katlyn Taylor

I took her on a trip to the Oregon Coast with my sister. We looked at tide pools and enjoyed a warm and sunny day.

Tide pools at Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach OR. ©Katlyn Taylor

I took her through the inside passages of Alaska and British Columbia. She was there for my lectures about whales onboard.

Views of Harvard Glacier, College Fjord AK from the back deck of M/S Roald Amundsen. ©Katlyn Taylor

In the past year I have been so fortunate to explore the world’s oceans in these green shoes. My wish is that more of our children in America get the chance to grow up and have adventures like me. I hope for a future where the tragedies of gun violence are something we leave in the past. That we enact real change for our people. If the futures of our children are bright, then so are our own.

On the shores of the Pacific Ocean. ©Katlyn Taylor