Dakota Young:
Lakota, Scholar, & Vegetarian !

The Saint Louis Vegetarian Society sponsored the runner-up prize for the annual Vegetarian Scholarship, which was awarded to Dakota Young for 2009. Graduating high school seniors may apply by filling out the proper forms, getting good grades, providing references, and writing an essay.

Here is an excerpt from Dakota's essay:

"I am a Lakota woman, and as a Lakota, I practice our traditional ceremonies. The reason practicing my culture is hard is the fact that we eat so many different animals: snake, badger, and buffalo. The elders of my community accept that I am a vegetarian but still think that I should eat the traditional meal. The greatest success I had was getting the school to allow vegetarian options and using computers for dissection. I was so excited! I am still trying to overcome the challenge of getting the approval of my elders but think that, if I could tell them that being vegetarian would help prevent diabetes in future generations, I could get their approval.

I have been vegetarian for over 10 years. I became vegetarian after I was severely food poisoned during the mad cow scare. At first I was traumatized from the effect that had, but during the refrain from eating meat, I did research on what it would be like to be a vegetarian and the many benefits I would get from being vegetarian. I then looked into animal rights and quickly became an activist from what I researched. It was hard to let people hear what I was trying to say since I was only 8, but now I always thank my diet after I get an award or honor."

>>>click here for the whole essay in pdf form<<<

Scholarship Information and Application Here