One day in art class, everything changed. By pure chance, I was assigned my final project on factory farming. Ironically, both my grandparents had been farmers, but I had never so much as stepped foot on a farm. When I first heard the words factory farm, I pictured something almost absurd. The more I learned, I couldn’t keep supporting an industry that reduced sentient beings to mere commodities. I decided to go vegan. That was five years ago. I have always been an environmental advocate. That passion led me to co-found and serve as president of my school’s Green Team. After becoming vegan, I wanted to help my peers understand the connection between diet and climate change, so I began volunteering as an intern at the nonprofit Climate Diet. I started by volunteering at local events like DC VegFest, where I led fun games and conducted meaningful conversations on the ethical impacts of veganism.
I brought sustainable eating initiatives to my school by partnering with PLNT Burger to cater our Green Team fair. I worked with Climate Diet to launch environmental food education lessons in my school’s fifth grade science curriculum. I also testified before the DC school board to push for expanded environmental education. I started creating vegan cooking videos for Climate Diet’s Instagram and I participated in the Montgomery County Youth Climate Summit to educate students about the environmental, ethical, and health aspects of veganism.
As an aspiring mechanical engineer, I’m eager to apply my skills to sustainability-driven projects, whether by improving plant-based food production systems or developing more efficient agricultural technologies. I will be attending Harvey Mudd College.
Support Young Veg Activists
To send support for additional scholarships and internships, donate at www.vrg.org/donate or call (410) 366-8343. You can also mail a donation to VRG, P.O. Box 1463, Baltimore, MD 21203.
Do you know an amazing high school student who promoted veganism? If so, let them know about our annual scholarship contest. The deadline for high school seniors is February 20th of each year. To see scholarship rules and past winners, visit www.vrg.org/student/scholar