Finally Being Normal and Eating Animals
By: Abby Kornele
It was the summer before 6th grade and my older cousin was in town staying with us. She was going to school in California at the time so she was very in touch with her hip trendy side. In a conversation with her I mentioned how recently I was thinking about eating less meat because the idea of eating animals started bothering me more and more. I remember she looked at me and said she could picture me becoming a vegetarian, so I took that and ran.
It has been 7 years since I’ve had any friendly neighborhood chickens or cows and I’m finally ready to change that. I can’t really give a clear explanation to what changed inside of me regarding the guilt of eating animals, but I’ve gotten to the point where I think the pros of eating meat officially outweigh the cons.
It has always been a challenge for me throughout high school with being active in sports and suffering with my lack of protein intake. Because as we know most people use meat as their main protein source. But because I am going to college in the fall I want to help aid the difficulties of dorm eating by making it easier to get my nutrients in. Therefore, I decided I wanted to be normal and start eating some animals.
I know how mad this will make people but I decided I wanted to break my vegetarianism with Raising Cane’s. After hours of Mukbang watching I found the only thing that sparked interest in my tastebuds was watching people bite into the crispy golden chicken fingers dipped in the delicious Canes sauce.
It was Tuesday, April 8th 2025 and I had gathered my support system. This consisted of my friends Avery, Ella, Halle, Ava, and Natalie. As soon as I walked into the building my heart beat sped up instantly, and I felt extreme anxiety dance in my stomach. I asked myself what I was doing and tried to confirm I was actually ready for this. Thankfully, half of my friends were late so that stalled some time before I had to go up to the counter and order. I was practicing some deep breathing practices, focusing on my breaths going in and out.
Once the whole group had arrived it was time to go up and order. Two of my friends order before me, giving me time to review what I’m going to say in my head. After about 15 seconds of waiting my time had come. I was about to actually order meat.
I cleared my throat and looked the lady in the eyes. I gathered all of my courage and said, “Can I please have a three finger combo with an extra sauce, but can you make sure the chicken is extra cooked.”
The lady looks up at me and I immediately think she’s judging me and she can tell I feel uncomfortable. She turns her back to yell my order to the chefs and no one even blinks an eye. I quickly realized this is completely normal, and to this lady I’m no one special.
It takes around 5 grueling minutes for my name to finally be called but once it does I walk up to the counter with slightly less anxiety this time. I grabbed my basket of chicken and walked back to the table filled with my friends. Thankfully the fingers were extremely hot so while they cooled off I had time to do some more breathing. To thoroughly prepare even more I brought a plastic knife to cut into my chicken, assuring it was fully cooked.
My three finger combo completely untouched before I ate it.
My chosen chicken finger had cooled off and it was time for me to take the first bite. With phones videoing me from every angle I shakily picked up the piece I cut and stared at it before dunking it in the sauce. I took some last deep breaths and moved the chicken to my mouth until I finally bit down on it.
The immediate texture of the bite was uncomfortable and way more chewy than I was anticipating. I also accidentally chose a piece with some fat on it, causing my bite to not be clean cut like I was imagining. Beyond the texture, the taste instantly hit me with nostalgia. Somehow the taste of chicken brought me back to my childhood and I don’t know how I had completely forgotten what this flavor even was.
I continued to take slow bites adding up to almost a full tender until I finally tapped out. I sat back staring at my basket trying to process what emotions I was going through. I was thinking about the past 7 years of my life and how all of the difficultness I had caused others just flew out the window. I ask myself why I even chose to be vegetarian in the first place. Why was I not feeling guilty that I just ate a dead animal?
I think my whole body was just in shock and the adrenaline of doing this was taking over my brain. No real thoughts were forming and I couldn’t tell where I stood within my morals.
My feelings were all over the place but overall I can conclude I’m proud of myself. I finally did something I knew would benefit so many aspects of my life. Eating real protein is good for you and I don’t think I’ll ever regret this new stage in my life.
For the next 24 hours after my chicken eating I made sure to stay very aware of any unusual feelings I would have in my stomach, but thankfully I felt totally fine. The thing I was most surprised about was I felt full in a way I wasn’t used to. It was as if my stomach felt satisfied?
Ever since that Tuesday night, my animal eating has been very limited. I had one unfortunate meal at El Chico’s that left my stomach feeling very unhappy, but besides that I am still eager to try more things.
My three finger combo after I ate it. Do not worry the bread was consumed after the photo was taken. Also I gave a full chicken finger away to a friend
I don’t know how long it will take me to get used to being “normal” and actually eating anything I want, but I can proudly say I conquered my fears and left those 7 years behind me. I don’t know how many other students at our school can relate to this, as I have only ever had one friend who was also a vegetarian, but I still encourage anyone to step outside of their comfort zone and get rid of the stubbornness keeping you tied to something. Change is very scary but that is how you grow and develop into a better person.
For a similar story like this, read Ella Embry’s story this month regarding trying out a gluten free diet for a week.
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