More Than a Project
January 16, 2019
I have been called an idiot. An extremist. I have been teased, ridiculed. Why? Because I am vegan, and I am an animal activist.
Flashback to May, as I was quickly approaching the end of my sophomore year. I sat in Advanced Integrated Language Arts (AILA, or as I always called it, ALIA, IALI, AIAL, IALA, and then I would eventually just give up and call it English). My teacher Mark Schillerstrom had just introduced our final project: a research project. At first, I had absolutely no clue what I would research. I toyed with different ideas for the rest of the class period, but nothing stuck. I was not passionate about anything, and I did not have any topics that I wanted to learn more about. I finally gave up, and accepted that I would end up researching some random subject that I did not care about. I finished the school day, not thinking much more about it. Later that evening, I was sitting in my room, just scrolling through Instagram. I came across a post by one of my favorite accounts, Goats of Anarchy, and it hit me.
Goats of Anarchy is a non-profit organization started by a woman named Leanne Lauricella. Lauricella takes in special needs goats, among other animals, and does what she can do improve their quality of life. Lauricella is a huge advocate for animals, and actively encourages going vegan. I had always read her posts about going vegan, though I had never thought much else about it. But as I lay in bed that afternoon, I realized exactly what I wanted my research project to be. I would research going vegan, and while doing so, I myself would eat a vegan diet.
I originally intended to just go vegan while I was completing my project, but my research changed my views completely. Our projects were done at the end of May, and while I have had a few slip-ups, I am proud to say that I am still vegan. And I intend on remaining that way for the rest of my life.
So that is why I am starting this column. To share my views and the reasoning behind them. I am not going to try to convince anyone to go vegan, nor am I going to shame those who are not. I am here to disprove the bad rep that vegans get, and while doing so I will gladly welcome any questions or criticism.

Brooklyn Dilley is a senior who actually functions best when she's drowning in a pile of responsibilities. She seems antisocial and awkward when you...
The Black & White encourages the student body to comment on the issues covered by the newspaper. The Black & White believes that user feedback is beneficial to maintain a balanced journalistic perspective. However, we encourage all comments to remain respectful and constructive to the issue. We also encourage students to restrain from using profanity and making inappropriate comments. The Black & White editors review all online comments before being posted. The Black & White reserves the right to refuse to publish individual comments, remove previously published comments and to suspend the comment function on a story.