For John Ball, class of ’78, the past three months have seen three pairs of shoes come and go.

Ball, who is already halfway through his coast-to-coast journey, will arrive at Santa’s Wonderland in College Station around 2:00 p.m. Ball walks across the nation to raise money for the establishment of a scholarship that will help Aggies pay for their rings.

The 28th scholarship of its kind, The Walking Aggie Endowed Ring Scholarship is funded solely by donation and is more than halfway to reaching its $25,000 requirement.

Ball said he has planned the 2,673-mile walk for years, meticulously allotting a regiment of 17 miles per day. But Ball said he didn’t always have a purpose for the walk.

“I would jokingly tell people who asked about my ‘cause’ that I was walking coast-to-coast because I wanted to and leave it at that,” Ball said on his website, TheWalkingAggie.com.

However, Ball said as the time of his walk approached, he realized how many doors his Aggie Ring opened for him, and that many students struggle with its cost.

“As proud as most students are when they meet the 90 hour credit mark that qualifies them to order their ring, many of those same students are faced with the reality that they cannot afford the cost of the Aggie Ring,” Ball said on his website.

After realizing the struggle many students have with affording their Aggie Ring, Ball said he decided his cause would be to raise funds to create an Endowed Aggie Ring Scholarship.

Ball said the Aggie network has been vital to his success, and has helped him through what he said has been the most difficult part of the journey.

“The hardest part has probably been being away from my family,” Ball said. “I’ve only seen my family one time over the Memorial Day weekend … To be honest, what I thought would be the toughest part of the walk was that it would become one never-ending camping trip. But that hasn’t been the case. I’ve only camped two times.”

Ball said his return to Aggieland is something he looks forward to most during the walk.

“This is the highlight of my walk,” Ball said. “This is the Super Bowl!”

Kathryn Greenwade, Vice President of Communications for The Association of Former Students, said when she heard about Ball’s trek, she felt it was essential that A&M lend a hand.

“When we heard about [Ball] doing this, we decided we wanted to do something for him as he was coming through Aggieland,” Greenwade said. “So we have organized an effort to where we have somebody, either a member of our staff or just a local Aggie, walking with him every mile of the Brazos county.”

Kristina Goldstein, class of 2015, was one of those of those Aggies walking alongside Ball.  Goldstein, a former member of the Corps of Cadets, said she was excited to share part of the walk.

“All I felt was excitement when I first met [Ball], and that excitement lasted until noon when the heat and the pain started kicking in.” Said Goldstein. “But I was determined to finish since John is doing this for a noble cause.”

Ball said he hopes to finish his walk in August, where he and his family have a post-walk cruise planned.

For updates on Ball’s walk or to donate, check out his website TheWalkingAggie.com.