I've lived in Minnesota for most of my life. My parents are from India, and as a child I would visit every few years. As an adult, my brother and I traveled around India. I saw a lot of economic poverty. I decided at the end of the trip to become a vegetarian and also to use my position of material privilege to try to advocate for a more compassionate world. When I came back from India, I had a conversation with an acquaintance: I asked her, 'do you think it is wrong to eat meat?' She became upset and told me she doesn't think of it like that. But that made me wonder. A few months later, I considered the position of animals in society more carefully, and I got involved in trying to prevent animal cruelty. A year later, I decided I would dedicate my life to advocating for animals. I hope we can learn to empathize with animals, and by doing so we can see all animals and humans as worthy of kindness and respect. My values: * having close friends * being close to family * animal advocacy * eating well * exercising regularly * minimizing my impact on the air, water, and land * trying to be healthy * being respectful to people * spending time outside * growing and learning * seeing beauty