[Huffington Post (blog)]

I suppose I am one: an activist -- for animals and a vegan lifestyle. I hear that word, however, and look around to see if someone is indeed referring to me. I don't have the activist temperament. I like listening to divergent points of view and hearing people out. I like getting along. I even like being liked, although activists of any stripe should get rid of that handicap at the outset.
...
As a sophomore in high school, I had another wham-o. Biology class. We dissected worms. It didn't feel right. I knew frogs were coming, then cats. I asked to be transferred to lab-free human science. "It's not college-prep," the teacher said.

"I don't care. I don't want an animal to die for me to go to college."

The teacher pushed his glasses down his middle-aged nose so he could get a close look at my sincere, acne-pocked face. "But you eat meat, don't you?"
...
Accepting that I live in a culture in which my convictions in this area are outside the accepted norms, my aim -- my activism -- is not to argue with those who think I'm nuts. Instead, I attempt to be an example for the interested, a resource for the curious and a guide for those new to this way of life -- like the woman I met today, an Israeli-born grandmother who told me that she hadn't eaten an animal product since March. "My eyes were opened," she said. "And I tell other people because you can never be sure who is ready to wake up."

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full story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/victoria-moran/ethical-veganism_b_659640.html