Touring With PETA Turned My Dreams Into Reality

As a teenager that annually attended Warped Tour, I had seen PETA tents at shows all the time. At first, it didn't mean much to me — that was before I went vegetarian.

Since then, I loved going to the PETA tent to get information and talk to the people working. My 16-year-old self would never believe that only two short years later I would be living a vegan lifestyle and touring with PETA as a representative.

I spent a lot of time looking into different opportunities that I could take to actively do something for the animals. I looked into classes that I could take, internships I could apply for, job openings and volunteer vegan mentor programs.

I received a text from PETA about applying for a position as a Concert Rep and immediately looked into it. After a phone interview, I was extremely excited that I had found a way to do something.

I worked shows for Drake Bell's High School Nation Tour with my boyfriend and two other PETA reps and as I expected, I loved every minute of it.

I got to talk to a lot of people who were already vegan or were interested in transitioning. I enjoyed hearing the questions that students had about veganism. The information that we give out at the tent is the same information that once helped me out when I was first transitioning to a vegan lifestyle so I was confident that it would help others too.

My boyfriend enjoyed touring with PETA much more than I expected him to, in fact, it even inspired him to start making more compassionate decisions.

As someone who knows how it feels to work a full-time job that you absolutely hate, I was beyond grateful to be doing something that I am passionate about.

Getting up early and traveling were two things that I really did not enjoy at other jobs, dreading the day every time I hit the snooze button, but touring with PETA I woke up excited to get out of bed every day and help at least one person help animals.

Do yourself a favor and look into your passions and what you can do with them. One Google search could be a life changer.