As the story goes, I was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 8th, 1988. I was a healthy baby with no physical or mental defects. And, surprisingly, since my mother's physician was a homeopath, I wasn't vaccinated as a baby.

As a child, I had a very healthy diet, according to normal standards. I was given large helpings of fruit and vegetables, medium-sized portions of meats, poultry, and grains, and minimal amounts of sugar and other "unhealthy" foods. As it turns out, everything that is not a fruit, vegetable, or nut or seed, is unhealthy. Imagine that.

Two years later, Chelsea, my younger sister, and the middle child was born. Again, a perfectly healthy baby. It was around this time that our lives changed drastically. My father found a job in Dallas, Texas, and eventually our family moved there, leaving my mom's parents behind in Vegas. Life became harder. My mother became a "stay-at-home" mom, since she couldn't juggle the jobs of mothering two children, loving and supportive wife, dutiful housekeeper, cook, and an income-earning businesswoman. I was about three years old. Even with all these tasks and more, she managed to feed us kids a healthy, mostly nutritious diet, which was far superior to the other diets consumed by most families.

By the time I was five, our family had slowly become a little more normal in our daily consumption of food: we ate occasionally at fast food restaurants, or basically, more of a S.A.D (Standard American Diet) diet, and we no longer had a homeopathic doctor. It was around this time that my little sister, Ciara, was born.

Progressively, despite my mother's constant teachings and warnings, our family became too busy to eat well, to really care what we ate. By this time, I was in public school as was Chelsea, and Ciara was beginning daycare. As we all know, the public school system is not the kind of place where wholesome, healthy food is available daily. Instead, I, like my friends, began to eat more junk food. What was life if you couldn't enjoy it? And who can enjoy life without a little yummy food? This was what constantly circulated in my mind, and was how I justified this unhealthy eating lifestyle. My family and I began to experience symptoms, not serious ones, but still the signs of a S.A.D diet were beginning to surface.

By the seventh and eighth grade, I was tired, weak, short, shy and quiet, had large circles under my eyes, was very thin, yet had a small layer of fat, and really didn't want to do much more than play Nintendo with my friends. Everyday for lunch, without my mother's knowledge, I would purchase a slice or two of Domino's pepperoni pizza (which, of course, the school offered fresh from the box), a side of French fries with ketchup, and, if I had weaseled enough money out of my mother, a DrPepper. Not exactly what you would call a healthy lunch, but of course, according the Food Pyramid, I was getting servings from the vegetable, grain, dairy, and meat groups, and a little, harmless serving of sugar. And even though my mom packed my lunches every other day, I still consumed way too much junk. The worse part was that both my mother and I knew this.

Then, following my grandmother's sad demise, my mother became a vegetarian. The reasons were obvious: animal torture; the inhumane process of raising, breeding, and then slaughtering these poor, intelligent creations just to feed our appetites; the health benefits that come from this type of diet; and the aspect of an awakened consciousness, one that is more in tuned to nature.

I remember, that as my mother was cleansing her body and losing weight, I still was consuming burgers from Jack In The Box and the likes. In the beginning, I barely even noticed my mother's vegetarianism. It was a side thought, not important, just someone else's views. And then, suddenly, it hit me.

Why should I be killing these animals just to feed myself…why are we any better than the animals that we slaughter? I knew the answer; it just took a little time for me to accept it as reality.

At this time, I was in ninth grade and now was home-schooled. I was much happier with this type of schooling (even though all my courses came from a "National High School" which offered correspondence programs for a high school diploma). And if I were given the same choice again: whether to homeschool or continue my public school education with my friends, I still would choose the same choice as I did nearly three years ago, I still would choose to homeschool. I am proud of myself that I didn't give into many of my relatives and close friends constant reminders that "you won't be able to visit with your friends" or "what about social interaction?" or "what about the sports program?" or "you won't be able to go to the prom!" I know, today, that if I had ever given into those people's shallow reasons of continuing my public school education, I would not be a raw foodist, and maybe not even be a vegetarian today. This was my first transformational step towards raising my consciousness to a higher level of understanding. And, believe you me, this was not an easy step.

In ninth grade, my diet consisted of basically four meals: Tombstone pizza (the deep-dish ones which you heat up in the oven; my mother called these "Deathstone pizzas"), Shrimp-flavored Top Ramen (which my mom called "MSG-Ramen", or "Sodium-Ramen"), pasta (which me and my mother would both shovel down in bucket loads), and sometimes a salad. On top of this unhealthy diet, my family went out about two times a week (always to nice restaurants, but still, not necessarily healthy). It was during this time, that I, realizing that vegetarianism was the right thing to do, began to slowly cut out the red meats and some of my favorite entrees such as "Baby Back Ribs", then poultry and "white" meat, and then, finally, seafood. Now, it took me over three months to finally give up shrimp and an occasional hot dog. On September 27, 2002, I gave it all up. I cut all the meat out of my diet. I finally went "veggie"! And with this, I believe I caused a rift in the family. There were now two factions: one with my sisters and father vying for meat, and another containing my mother and I campaigning for vegetarianism. I believe that most people that become vegetarian, and still have siblings, parents, and/or spouses that are still omnivores, will be able to recognize the feeling that there is an unseen separation, which takes place, slowly widening through the years. Now, like nearly everyone that experiences this, I didn't want this to happen. I wanted to do what I thought was right, and still get along with all the omnivores that I knew as friends and family. However, slowly, this unwanted gap seemed to pull me closer to people of like-mind, and away from people that wanted to have a big BBQ party for the fourth of July. And even though this gap still exists, I believe my mother and I have remained very genial and friendly to the omnivores, which is what I would strongly urge other vegetarians, vegans, and raw foodists to do.

So, for a year, I remained a steadfast vegetarian, always wrinkling my nose at the smells and sight of the butchery, and constantly afraid that I would find a hidden piece of meat beneath the layers of croutons and dressing in my salad. It was during this time, that both my mother and I experienced an awakening of consciousness, like the rain had ceased and the sun was shining down upon us. However, it still felt liked the rain had left a small layer of fog, which always seemed to partially obscure the sun from our view. We didn't feel perfectly clear, which was how we were led to the All-Raw lifestyle. A raw-vegan, who follows the All-Raw, or 100% raw diet, is one who follows the guidelines of eating only fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and certain other products that are not heated above the temperature of 118 degrees F, and which abstains from eating any animal products, including milk, cheese, meat, and eggs.

It was when my mother miraculously read David Wolfe's The Sunfood Diet Success System book that we automatically knew raw was right.

So, after going to a single seminar by David Wolfe, I tried a week of 100% Raw. I know what you're probably thinking. You're thinking that I'm going to say that this week was RAWsome and the greatest thing that ever happened to me, because I'm a raw foodist and I'm going to promote this diet in any way possible, right? Wrong! This week was the worst ever. I nearly gagged every time I tried to chug down a large salad covered in orange juice or olive oil. I was constantly hungry, and was having a horrible time dealing with detox. When the week ended, I was thanking the Universe that I could finally go back and eat at Romano's Macaroni Grill, my favorite restaurant at the time. After grinning and bearing it through this week, I was thinking "the hell with Raw, I'm eating what tastes good." Yet, deep in the foggy recesses of my mind, I knew that I would eventually become another person to join the respectable ranks of current raw foodists. And every time I ever thought of staying cooked, I would see visions in my mind of a perfect life, with a wonderful family and myself looking great, and then realize that this would never happen without raw. Never.

Within six months, on the one year anniversary of my vegetarianism, I went All Raw, and with me, my mother. This was the greatest step I have ever taken towards self-enlightenment. Since going raw, I have realized that my "trial week" was a total disaster because I had neither the knowledge, the skills, the equipment, nor the recipes to keep me motivated. And, I also did not have the support that I do now: my mother. My mom went raw with me, and has, like me, stayed All Raw, and she has been my support group, and likewise, I have been hers. We keep each other motivated and now, it seems like an alien thought to even consider going back to the cooked world. I will never go back because there is no reason to. Raw food gives me vitality, energy; it gives me life. Raw food now outweighs cooked food in its flavor and vibrancy. Also, one other notable mention is that, since becoming raw, I have gained a happiness that is unquenchable, that is contagious, I cannot describe it, for, before raw, I never felt it. This joy is so blissful, that every situation is lit up by it, and I only very seldom feel depressed.

Now, I can see the visions that I dreamed up in my head coming true. I have been raw for fourteen months now, and at the age of sixteen, I am writing a fantasy trilogy named The Chronicles of the Light (hopefully it will turn into a nine-book series), I am "unschooled", I have taught myself to create websites and graphic designs, I have several raw friends, and I love Mondays because I can start writing my book again (I stop on the weekends).

My transformation was not easy, it was not simple, and it was not quick. It took place over the time of ten years, and gradually escalated in its difficulty. Do not give up when the going gets tough. Do not give up when your "friends" leave you because they believe you are some type of weird hippie. Do not give up when the journey becomes nearly impossible, because then you know you only have one more corner to turn 'till you reach the pot o' gold at the end of the rainbow. So, stand tall, stand proud, stand high, and when you see the obstacle, look it straight in the eye, and walk forward, think of the problem as a challenge, and the challenge as an opportunity, for, you never know if the grass is greener on the other side until you see for yourself.

If you feel like emailing me, I'd love to hear from anyone! Response for this article or questions, comments, ANYTHING! My email is rawkandrule@chroniclesofthelight.com

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Hi I am responding to Derek Cornetts article about how and why he became a raw vegatarian. I just want to say that it was a fantastic article and that it has inspired me to become a raw vegatarian even more! I plan to start it tommorow and I really hope I stick to it because it's really what I want. Thanks alot. --KIELA