Veganism: A Journey Through the Ages Anonymous

My journey with the animal liberation movement began almost a decade ago, at the tender age of nine or ten. I had not yet been exposed to what animal cruelty really is, but I somehow knew that something wasn't right in the way we fed ourselves. My curious, naïve mind couldn't understand why we could care so much for our pet dogs, and could then backtrack and eat a pig. What had defined the line between what was right to eat and what wasn't? After learning about the sad reality of the slaughter process from my brother, I decided to never eat meat again. I was comfortable as a vegetarian; I felt that it made me unique among my peers, helped me to stand out from the middle school crowd in the best way possible.

All was well until I turned fifteen and took a trip to San Francisco. During my time there, I was introduced to the concept of "veganism." The thoughts going through my mind were: "what is that? That word sounds weird. How will I survive without cheese? This is too extreme." Little did I know that, a couple of vegan restaurants and slaughterhouse documentaries later, I would return to my parents as a full-fledged vegan. My poor parents had no idea what veganism was. All that seemed to come out of my mouth for the next...