Inside Scoop on Vegans

Recently, my vegan friends and I have been discussing the questions that we get asked the most regarding our diet and the things people are most surprised to hear. So for those of you who don't know, I've been vegan since August 2015 and I'm loving every second of it. That is, every second that isn't consumed by someone hating on my life choice. I wanted to enlighten you all on some fun vegan facts that you might not have known or thought of before.

We eat junk food!
While we may love a good salad every once in a while we can and still do chow down on Oreos all time. There's a variety of different vegan snack options and, believe me, we love and cherish them all.
We can eat a TON!
When the main part of your diet is plants you're able to eat a lot more and feel less full. I personally love this aspect because it means I can 6 meals a day and still maintain my girlish figure.
We don't think we're better than you.
As much as vegans get a bad rap we're really not as pretentious as twitter and tumblr make us out to be. We eat our food and you eat yours and believe us when we say we're not judging you and we could not care less what's on your plate.
Telling people we're vegan is our worst fear.
Because being vegan is considered offensive to so many people it's terrifying to tell a new friend what our dietary restrictions are. We don't want you to feel uncomfortable around us or worse ask us a million questions and try to convince us to change, so if we do tell you take it as a compliment.
We're not all crazy tree huggers.
I'll admit some of us are crazy tree huggers and, I myself, am a strong advocate for environmentally friendly practices and animal rights, but please don't assume we're all going to preach to you about veganism. Chances are we won't even say a word about it unless you ask nicely.
We're not protein deficient.
This is perhaps the thing that surprises most people! We, as vegans, are in fact not protein deficient and I would argue we probably get more protein than the average meat eater on a daily basis. Believe it or not there are other sources of protein besides living creatures.
If you offer us vegan food we'll love you forever.
Want to win over a vegan girls heart or simply make a new vegan friend? Offer us vegan food or ask us what restaurants are vegan friendly before we go somewhere. This kind of consideration goes a long way for us because all to often we here "Oh you can eat here right? They have lettuce."
Don't ask what we'd do if we're stranded on a desert island. 
Chances are if you ask us this question you're either going to get a really sarcastic response or a really angry one. If you want to know my real logical answer it's this: The odds of me ending up on a deserted island are slim to none, and if that's God's will for my death so be it.


So there you have it, the top 8 random things you need to know about us vegans. Did I miss some or do you have more questions? Let me know in the comments below!

Jesus Loves the Little Children

Christmas break is a wonderful time full of cheer, thankfulness, and relentless questions from your family regarding your life choices. Yeah, all you young adults know exactly what I'm talking about and I'm positive it drives you nuts too. But for me, the questions I get about my life choices don't just offend me because I don't yet have a solid life plan and just want to be young and left alone, they offend me because most of the questions I receive are asked from a place of prejudice and privilege.

Now I know what you're thinking, 'I would never ask someone a question like that!" Well let me give you some examples and maybe we can all learn to love each other just a little bit more. But first let me give you some background about why these questions are asked in the first place.

My dream job is to work as a special education teacher in an under priviledged inner city school. 

Yep, you read that right, I want to work where no one else does and help students who otherwise wouldn't get the help they deserve. So let's take a look at some classic examples of questions that shouldn't be asked and things that shouldn't be said.

"Be careful. You could get shot you know." 

Here's a fun fact, you as a human being run the risk of being shot each and every day you wake up and go outside. So you're right, I could get shot at school or I could get shot at the grocery store, and so could you. By assuming I'm at an increased risk of being assaulted just because I'm at an inner city school is only continuing the stigma that low income children are more violent than their wealthier peers. Let's not be so prejudice and try to see the child for who they are and not the community they come from.

"Wouldn't you like it better teaching in a nice school district?" 

No. The answer is simply no. I wouldn't want to teach in a "nice school district" because there really is no such thing. Every school district has its struggles and problem students and each teacher faces a new battle everyday regardless of where they're employed. If you're trying to say a wealthier school districts are the same as a better school district that's simply not true. I would argue that the amount of money a school has doesn't determine it's quality, the school's teachers do.

"You know the parents won't care right?"

I'm going to share a little secret with you, there are parents everywhere who don't care and will never care. It matters not what race they are or how much money they have, if a parent wants to be invested in their child's life they will be and if not, they won't. The more we continue the stereotype of families in poverty being families who don't care, the more difficult it will be for the children to break the cycle.

"We need good teachers outside of the city too."

Whenever I hear this comeback I have to agree, yes you're right we do need good teachers outside of the city. I would take it a step further though and say we need good teachers everywhere! Just because someone feels they are called to teach to underprivileged students doesn't make them any less of a good teacher. The students they are teaching may not have access to all the early childhood programs other communities have and may be extremely behind, which is why if I want to be a good teacher anywhere I want to serve those who need help the most.

"You won't see results." 

This is the sentence that saddens me the most. The kids that attend inner city schools are no different than your children and each and everyone of them is capable of succeeding in life. My goal as a special ed teacher is not to create students who are succeeding by societies standards but rather succeeding by their own standards. If their goal is to tie their own shoes that's great! If it's to build a nuclear reactor that's great! I'd like to see us stop with the discrimination against special needs and underprivileged children. They're no different than an average student and they deserve the best education and that is what I plan to give them.

It makes me incredibly sad to hear so many different people react negatively to my choice to serve impoverished children of large cities. Let me be frank, Jesus loves those kids you're talking about and so do I. We are called to serve the least of these and that's exactly what these children are. Inner city schools are my mission field and I'm following God as He has called me to serve and teach these children. If we continue to stereotype students of impoverished urban communities the cycle of poverty and crime will not end. The school system is for many, the only way out. So the next time you see a child, or any person for that matter, in an urban poverty stricken community I encourage you not to look at them the way society does but rather look at them the way God does. They are precious in his sight because Jesus loves all the little children of the world.