I grew up in a small community mostly full of conservatives, hicks, drug addicts, alcoholics, and poverted people.  Diversity is scarce; many people stick to their own beliefs and don’t want to know any different. I can’t really say hometown because my town I live in is too small to be considered a community, so we call the county, our community.  Polk County, WI does not tolerate change well. There’s not many open minded people here to even make a change to help grow into a better community; it only goes downhill.

          I was once one of the sheep, living on what I was told was good for me and not what was actually true.  I wasn’t told any different so I didn’t look further than that. Little did I know that life was about to hit me with a truth phonebook.  Americans like to believe bigger, faster, and more is better; though this exact motto is what brought us into this poor diet crisis. I was in a poor diet crisis.  I realized my health was bad and I continued to eat bad things in large quantities and never participated in physical activities. I was killing myself slowly and I knew it too.   Midway through High School, I began to believe the things doctors, researchers, and others were saying. The truth is, health is WAY more important than the average American realizes.  So I began to change my habits one piece of food at a time, one step at a time. I started getting into a rhythm and started to reasonably portion my meals and run on the backroads I lived on.  Later on, I adopted a whole foods plant-based lifestyle and I've honestly never felt more alive and healthy than I do now.   

           I’m one of the few people in my little community who saw the need for change.  The S.A.D.(Standard American Diet) is harming small areas like mine and pretty much the whole planet.  A majority of the planet is going through a health crisis and it needs to be addressed now as it’s causing more damage than to just our bodies, but also harming the planet and causing pollution.  The major cause of Global Warming is our diet. You’re probably thinking, ‘How are these connected?’ Well, the pollution caused by farming, production, transportation, pesticides and littering packaging is just the start of the problem.  These changes need to be made now or else what am I in college for if the planet might not be here when I graduate?

          By telling others my story of wellness, I’ve actually inspired my friends, the community, and others to start their own journeys of health, fitness and wellness.  When people walk up to me and ask about my journey and how they can begin their own, I’d ask them questions about their health now and where they’d like to be. I’d give them my knowledge and information I’ve learned through my own experience to help them get started and hopefully in time, they’ll learn to listen to their body.  Getting on a more serious note, I would speak up the facts i’ve learned to anyone that wants to listen about the benefits of my whole foods plant-based lifestyle and the harm meat and dairy actually do to your body; not to mention the cruelty animals face in animal product industries. I speak up about that topic when people ask or it’s brought up as I know I’m not the best at changing the ignorant.  But I continue to fight for what’s right no matter what argument is slandered my way. The world is in a crisis right now, and we are the only ones who can fix it.  I believe striving to live healthier and more sustainably is the key to not only saving the planet, but to attain the pursuit of happiness.