By Cyril Gittens

Basic psychology tells us that we prefer to be friends with people who
have similar characteristics. This may be part of the reason why some
vegetarians want to meet other vegetarians. Depending on your school, it
could be hard to find other students that follow this lifestyle. If you
just observe the food that is on most plates at your high school or
middle school cafeteria, you’ll notice that vegetables are scarce, for
the most part. However, there are a few people in most schools that
think differently. These students have made a leap of faith and have
decided to discontinue eating animal-based products. Maybe they are
vegetarian for health reasons, or have certain moral/ethical beliefs, or
maybe they just want to be different.

When I was in high school and wanted to socialize and connect with other
like-minded people, I used some creative techniques to accomplish my
goal. Even though I only met a small handful of vegetarians, they turned
out to be good friends and are still my friends today. In high school, I
asked people if they were vegetarian when I noticed that they always
brought their homemade lunch with large plates of salad or tofu with
other vegetarian goods to the cafeteria. I started with a question to
see if they were vegetarian or not and then I just continued the
conversation if they were a veggie head. I would ask, “What do you eat
for snacks?” or “Does your family eat similar to you?” After we
had a solid conversation, I would continue to socialize and connect
with them.

The bottom line is to just ask people if they are vegetarian if you
sense that they follow similar lifestyle choices as you. You could also
talk with your school principal or representative about starting an
ethics/animal rights club. This would be another way to meet vegetarian
students.