I'm a bit of a shy and passive person; an introvert. I'm not the type of person people would call "wild." I hardly ever take risks or anything, but I do welcome change. I don't think I've ever helped anybody before. It was either that I was never in a situation that required me to save anybody or that I just don't know how to help people. Most of the time, money is needed to help people. I don't have much money. However, I wouldn't hesitate to risk or sacrifice when it comes to helping those who can't help themselves. What I sacrifice is not as important as the lives of those billions of innocent animals.

I became a vegan on January 2004. My co-worker and sister gave me a lot of information about veganism, mostly about the health benefits. The first reason I became interested in becoming a vegetarian/vegan was that I thought it was absolutely disgusting to eat the rotting flesh of animals; it was almost like cannibalism. The second reason was to see if I could actually do it. At that time, I hadn't given up chicken, eggs, fish or food with animal byproducts. When my sister received a copy of PETA's Vegetarian Starter Kit, I read it from front to back. After I finished, I immediately eliminated all animal products from my diet and lifestyle. To me, the definition of sacrifice is to give up something that's important. Anything stolen from or caused harm to animals is not important to me. However, it was in a way a bit of a sacrifice because I threw all my past beliefs out the door. Also, resources weren't very convenient. Getting food or a job or clothing was more difficult; I had to shop at places that I wasn't familiar with and it was extremely difficult for me to get lunch during school.

A lot of events have happened as a result of my becoming a vegan/animal rights activist. First of all, I became and felt a lot healthier. I lost about five pounds, but I had no trouble at all with maintaining my weight. I would eat a lot of food and wouldn't feel heavy afterwards. Most of the food I eat are fortified and contain a lot of soy, so it is a major improvement from my days as a fast food junkie. When I decided to become vegan, I refused to eat anything my parents had prepared for me. This caused them to believe I was being an ungrateful, rebellious brat. We got into an argument and so far, it hasn't improved. My relationship with them deteriorated. They're just scared that I'm independent and that I don't need them anymore. By adopting an animal-free (except for my furry friends) lifestyle, I must have saved a number of animals' lives. I'm just one person; I didn't save a whole slaughterhouse full of animals, but I saved a significant amount. I also saved an acre of beautiful yet endangered forestland, a somewhat important amount of the planet's water, and a number of human beings from starving to death in some third world country.

It may sound a bit cliché, but I became a totally new and different person after I became vegan. For one thing, I developed a massive love for animals. There are many people out there who only care about human rights; they don't bother to look at other types of oppression. Before, I was shallow, I liked violence, and I supported capitalism; I was like the most horrible person in the world. Now that I'm vegan, I've been exposed to a bunch of new people and ideas. I began to question everything I've been told, and it really helped me with analyzing and critical thinking. I started to look at everything much deeper. I became more open-minded. I started doing research and reading a lot about veganism and animal cruelty, and I discovered that capitalism played a major role in it. I became interested in how the government and system manipulates people just to get power and money. I should have been scared because I realized that what I have been raised to believe was actually not true. That's scary because it means the people I trusted lied to me. I didn't trust my parents anymore. I didn't trust the school or the government or anything else anymore. It forced me to think for myself.

To become a vegan is extremely important! Even if someone is totally passive and the thought of protesting scares them, they could become vegan. You don't have to scream your head off at a protest; you don't have to make dramatic speeches in front of an intimidating crowd. You could even sit on the couch and watch television all day as long as you eliminate all animal products and byproducts from your life. It's enough to make a change. The earth will thank you for not wasting precious water, your body will thank you for preventing future diseases and an early death, the trees will thank you for preventing them from getting chopped down, the starving human beings in third world countries will thank you for giving them food and most of all, the billions of innocent animals will thank you for saving their lives.

Throughout history, humans have made major progress in ending forms of oppression such as sexism, classism, racism, etc. The genocide of animals has been forgotten, hidden and it beats the length of all the genocides and wars in history put together. They can't speak for themselves, so it's up to the humans to save the animals.

--Angie and her twin sister, Brenda, are both vegans.