I was home schooled till freshman year of high school. During the time I was taught at home I traveled the world with my parents. We visited Costa Rica, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, and many of the Caribbean Islands. I still remember the day that I got to stand in the rainforest. I also traveled throughout the US; spending a month on a barge that took us up the Mississippi River. I learned invaluable lessons and saw amazing sights that I'd never trade for a more conventional childhood.

I only entered the public school system in ninth grade because I wanted to create a record for colleges to consider; getting a diploma instead of a GED. I didn't like high school at all (no surprise there) but I did very well. It was definitely worth it because of the scholarship money I earned just for doing what I was supposed to do. I always used to joke with my mom that she did a good job of home schooling me because nobody ever believed me when I told them that I never had been to school before ninth grade. I always got comments like "you're home schooled? But you're smart! How could your mom teach you without like you know being a teacher?" Or my least favorite which I got quite often "Dude, you were not home schooled! You're not a dork like the rest of the home schoolers!" My favorite coming from a teacher "you can't be home schooled, you're not socially inept." Yet I grew tired of being put on the spot by teachers who wanted to trip me up with difficult questions because they knew that I had been home schooled.

The most valuable thing that I learned from being a part of the public school system is the absolute necessity of having an individual separate life away from the one you lead at school. I went to a very small school that lacked diversity. Lack of diversity didn't mean just a lack of minorities. It also meant that if you didn't think the same as everybody else then you were subtly ostracized by students and teachers. People started to notice when I wouldn't join in the class efforts to bash Asians. I was deemed "snotty" because I wouldn't join them in the woods after school to drink out of a keg. I was called a "bitch" because I wouldn't swallow pills that they had bought from their cousin's sister's uncle that had promised them a high. I would hear daily "but like you're not ugly so why haven't you like had sex?"

This was nothing however compared to the hostility that I experienced when I decided at 16 to follow a mostly vegetarian/vegan lifestyle. I say mostly because I do not believe that it is possible to be completely vegan in this life. My mom was very supportive which is not typical when a teen makes this announcement. I have been very lucky to have her support. This has helped me to understand the bizarre events that kept occurring at school when people found out that I was a vegetarian.

Of particular nastiness was a certain teacher. Not a day went by that she didn't harass me. I was never one of the militant types that passed out brochures or regaled people with facts on cholesterol, etc. (I saved that for people I cared about like my family). I simply wanted to be me. Instead of teaching her class she would hold ice cream and cake parties every third day. She illegally sold candy out of her room and told her students to spread the word during lunch. She would constantly offer me non-vegan candy, cake, and ice cream.

When I declined to participate in the daily sugar fest she let me know quite openly that she didn't approve. I tried to calmly explain that my family didn't believe in consuming excess sugar. I mentioned the fact that my step-dad's life had been prematurely shortened by complications of diabetes exacerbated by an excess consumption of sugar. I told her of how I had made a personally decision after his death to limit my sugar intake. It was a simple way of life for me not some draconian code of self denial. Instead of Mountain Dew I drink OJ. In place of frosted flakes I eat amaranth cereal. This was all explained to her in private yet she still took many opportunities to single me out in the class and find new ingenious ways to ridicule me in front of everyone.

Another teacher also gave me problems. She would gang up on me with another girl daily. I brought my own lunch every day. Food like PB&J, fruit, veggies, bean & rice burritos etc. Every time I ate my lunch the two would sit close by; discussing me as if I wasn't there or couldn't hear. They would say things like "Who does she think she is? Isn't school food good enough for her? Eeeew, look she's eating hummus again! " This line of conversation went on for weeks. And it all started when they found out that I ate differently than them. The teacher would then make comments about my body. It was making me very uncomfortable. I just laughed it off but it shocked me.

All of this got to the point where my mom was ready to scream at my teachers. I was more cautious knowing that my grades were in danger. The fact that it was my last year also made me feel that it wasn't worth it. I knew what happened to kids who proved that a teacher had wronged them. I didn't want F's on my senior mid year grade report to the college I was going to attend. I managed to hold my own.

I find it interesting that the same type of behavior began to be directed at my younger sister when she started to bring healthier vegetarian lunches to her elementary school. The children appeared to have some sort of homing device set to detect non-dairy non-meat food. It was tough to convince her to stay constant in her manner of eating. The fact that the same thing happened to me in high school made me laugh. I couldn't believe that I still had people bothering me about my lunch in the 12th grade! It's become second nature for me to handle being constantly under attack just for existing the way I wish to exist.

I have to say that I am glad that I am different. I don't plan to change. I am just worried about the world that my children grow up in. I hope that common sense is dispensed more liberally than it is now.

--Kristin is a frequent contributor to vegetarianteen.com and the winner of our first with the slogan "My lunch never had a central nervous system." Read what Kristin ate today.