How I Went Vegan
By Silver Wind Knight
"It all started about six months ago. It was just a normal day of hanging out with my friends at the skateboard shop when they decided to go to the reptile store. I went along with them thinking that nothing was out of the ordinary, but boy was I wrong! I never really thought of what I was eating until my best friend fed three baby mice to the alligators..."

My Transformation
By Derek Cornett, age 16
"A couple weeks ago, I was asked to write about my life and how I became a Raw-foodist. So, let me present you with the story of my life, and how a couple people and one idea led me to transform my life. 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..."

How I Went Vegan
By Brenda Lau, age 17
"It all started on a simple day when I was an apathetic and self-righteous eighth-grader. I had no idea that that very day would be the start of a two-year struggle that resulted in an unexpected lifestyle..."

Two Simple Questions
By Jessica Alleva, age 16
"Whenever I tell people I’m vegan, I get one of two responses. One, “WHY?” and two, “What do you eat?” These often come after an explanation of the term vegan: a person who abstains from the consumption and usage of any animal product..."

I Changed for a Man...But I Still Have a Mind of my Own!
By Natalie Berrong, age 18
"I met Corwin when I was 16 and he was 17. We were very much in love and nothing could separate us...except for one thing. Corwin had been a vegetarian since he was eight years old..."

How I went Veg!
By Vanessa Woodfin, age 16
"My adventure to becoming vegetarian and then vegan, has been a wonderful experience. It all started when I was 14 and I had just met the love of my life, John. He used to take me to Whole Foods Market and Glaser Market all the time. I just didn't know what to do with all the new food I had never seen before. I always respected that he was a vegetarian and I tried as much as I could NOT to eat dead flesh..."

Vegetables Rock!
By Sarah Bau, age 13
"I was raised eating meat. No one ever told me I was eating dead animals. So I grew up thinking it was okay to eat poor innocent animals (not that I knew what I was eating). I really didn't know until about a month ago. Sad, huh?.."

It Isn't Easy Becoming Vegetarian
By Melissa Kania, age 12
"I was first inspired to go veg when I saw this site and read all about the world of vegetarianism and veganism. I thought it would be easy, but boy was I wrong..."

First Year Journey of a Raw Teen
By Rick Kump, age 16
"For every raw fooder, there is an experience, and each is unique. For a teenager trying to find his way in the world, I have come across many challenges and much resistance. Not only have I overcome most of these, I have used them to my advantage. Raw foods have made me stronger in every way I know..."

The Ultimate Journey to Rawdom
By Anna Hays, age 16
"Now for breakfast! What will it be today? Carrot/ginger juice? A fruit salad? Maybe pears with flax and sesame seed butter. So many options. Your kitchen is full of fresh, ripe fruit; luscious papayas and juicy watermelon..."

My Life as a Vegan
By Tabitha K.Nunes, age 16
"My choice to become vegetarian was solely based on me. I recently became a vegan and that was definitely not based on me. I’m a huge lover of cheese and dairy in general..."

Confessions of a Teenage Activist
By Miyun Park
"As a tragically unhip survivor of the self-indulgent '80s-that glorious decade when it was cool not to care about much more than money and big hair-I thought I'd unveil my battle scars. My point isn't to embarrass myself by revealing just how uncool I was (although that'll no doubt happen)..."

My Story of a Natural Life
By Kristin Daniels, age 18
"I suppose it could be said that my upbringing predisposed me to vegetarianism. I grew up in "The cheese state." Cows were everywhere. I grew up on the peninsula in a very small town of about 1000 people. I lived in a log cabin, played in the woods, and led a pretty natural life..."

How I Became a Vegetarian
By Laurel Long, age 17
"It was at the age of 12 that I first came to realize that chicken-the-animal and chicken-the-food were one and the same. For some reason, up to that point I had never made the connection that my Happy Meals came from a not-so-happy place..."

How I Became a Veg Activist
By Liz Chipman, age 21
"It was August of 2000, and I don't know what it was - something just snapped inside of me. I felt sorry for the animals who had to die because I was hungry for a hamburger or taco, so I went online to research it. Boy, am I ever glad I did..."

Love at First Sight
By Lucy Watkins, age 37, Interview and Activism Editor for vegetarianteen.com
"Since I had slowly become more and more aware of environmental and human rights issues, I found myself craving information about ways I could improve life on earth. It was at a local Earth Day celebration that I found exactly what I needed..."

Veg Out!!!
By Brittany Lintelman, age 14
"About a year ago my sister complained of stomachaches all the time, and my mom took her to the doctor. Well, she had test after test done and nothing could be found wrong. My mother decided to cut out fast food completely. I, for one, love salads and fresh fruits and vegetables, so I said I could veg out anyway..."

How I Went Vegan
By Angie Lau, age 16
"Just like any other American, I was raised on a diet filled with meat. However, because my parents were from Asia, we didn't include much dairy in our diet. It was when I adapted to the American ways that I became obsessed with fast food and ice cream..."

Going Vegan Cold Turkey
By Misty Strebeck, age 20
"It wasn't until I was 16 that I heard about veganism. The first thing that came to my mind was, "If you don't eat meat or dairy, what's left to eat!?" I thought it was crazy and I wondered, "Where are you supposed to get your protein?""

Staying Strong
By Courtney Kelly, age 13
"I knew it was going to be hard considering that nobody in my family would even DREAM of not being able to eat meat fewer than three times a day..."

Hunter's Ed
by Starza Kolman, age 18
"I thought that the class would just be an easy "A." Little did I know that this class would affect my way of thinking for the rest of my life..."

Why Vegan? Why Not?
Kate Epting, age 19
"When I was 16 I found a name for my "selective" eating habits and told my parents, while they were washing pork chops down with gravy, that I was no longer going to eat meat..."

Animal Lover
By Brittany Jencks, age 11
"When I was younger, I decided I was vegetarian (not including spaghetti and meat sauce)..."

Parting With My Birkenstocks
By Florie Green, age 18
"I first became a vegetarian after slowly giving up red meat, then chicken and turkey, then all seafood. I made the switch over about three months, and I did it purely for health reasons."

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