Augustus said, “Because I live in a rural area, most of my school is connected to the animal agricultural industry – many students and faculty members are a part of FHA, 4-H, fifth-generation animal farmers, and oftentimes all three. I, too, come from a family that used to raise animals as livestock. Despite these circumstances, I still chose to be vegan. Right now, the morality discussions are in full swing at my school because I just recently had a paper about speciesism that was published in a Harvard undergraduate journal, The Harvard Brain. My paper, “From Pig to Pork: How Society Rewires Our Empathy” explores biological and social themes amongst the fields of philosophy, neuroscience, linguistics, and many more … Additionally, I write for a student newspaper for the St. Louis metropolitan area, and I have written articles specifically about veganism … I would say the social isolation caused by this large portion of America that knows next to nothing about both vegans and the animal agriculture industry is the hardest challenge I face. When I have a discussion with my German teacher who has lots of experience working in slaughterhouses, we have common ground because we know the reality … Why is it that the vegan and the slaughterhouse worker have the most common ground? … Because veganism also applies to other humans, I hope to become an ophthalmologist, which would allow me to provide life-and vision- saving services to those suffering from extreme poverty.
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