I did not hear the word veganism and what I meant before I was 15 when one of my mom's friends went vegan and my first thought was; why would anyone do that? Which is pretty funny because now I cannot think of one reason not to be vegan. But I thought about cheese and tuna and how I did not like the idea of giving that up.

I already knew I was 'lactose intolerant' ("you are not lactose intolerant, you are just not a baby cow") because I had been tested in 2006 and I have not had a glass of milk since.. I did however eat cheese and other dairy products on special occasions and sometimes had it when I was out - otherwise not. We did not even have dairy products in our house in the everyday life. So it would not really have made that big of a difference.

I would say that I have always liked meat. I would not use the word love but I definitely liked the taste of it. One day it just started to taste and feel weird to eat. This was after I heard the word veganism but at the time I did not explore it further. I don't know what happened, it just started being and tasting weird.

A couple of weeks went by and I still ate the meat. I told my mom how I felt and she said:

'Then why don't you just stop eating it?'

And my first reaction was; can I do that??

I don't think I thought (wow that's a mouthful) I needed it to survive, I just thought it was such a big thing to give up, I mean it was everywhere. How can you not eat meat? It's such a normal thing to do so how could I just stop? 

But I did, I stopped eating meat when I was 15. And it felt so good.

As mentioned, we did not have dairy products in our household and eggs were starting to become a minimal thing, something not used as often so I ate plant based most days without really knowing that I did.

Then I watched a video on youtube, a video that is still very dear to my heart and probably always will be because it was such a mind opener to me; 'The best speech you will ever hear' by Gary Yourofsky. Such a powerful message without being graphic. I thought it was so brilliant and I remember thinking that this felt right.

So I was vegan now? No, I still ate plant based at home however when I was out I would have some dairy and other cheese products because of the social thing. I think that's how it is for a lot of people so I totally understand. However now, I will never let some social idea of what is normal get in the way of what I believe in and what feels right to me.

I started watching more videos, some including slaughter footage and my heart literally broke. So I started to say no to animal products.

I did not want that.

It did not feel right.

It just did not match with my ethical beliefs and what felt right.

The thought of me not being able to give up tuna, cheese or other animal products was selfish. Why should anyone be hurt over something I (thought) wanted? 

So on my 19th birthday I said to myself and my family something along the lines of; this is it. This is the last day I will (knowingly) eat animal products and it felt so good making that vow to myself. Because this was how I felt so why did I not live it? I had stopped eating animal products before that day but this was the official day.

"I'm vegan"

and I started going beyond food and looked elsewhere for cruelty to cut out of my life and I have never felt better.

I am now 21 and it has been over 2 years since I went vegan and I am so grateful for this decision and all I think now is probably what a lot of vegans think;

"Why did I not do this sooner??"

But I am now and I will be a voice for the voiceless because just because something is considered the norm that does not mean that it is right.

If you want to know about the benefits I have experienced after going vegan then just click right here. 

Thank you so much for reading and if you have any questions then please feel free to ask down below. When did you first hear the word veganism?