\The only thing I really missed was cheesecake,"" said UW-Madison graduate student Nick Murphy.
After becoming a vegetarian in December 2004, Murphy chose to go vegan after researching the mistreatment of animals.
""That put me over the edge and I didn't want to be responsible for that,"" he said. ""It wasn't really a happy time in my life. I couldn't get the idea of the suffering of animals out of my head.""
Murphy's friend, UW-Madison junior Becky Rauwald, made the same decision for the same reasons.
""Specifically it was the factory farm stuff that really impacted me, the conditions the animals lived in,"" she said.
Rauwald also became a vegetarian before going vegan two weeks later after viewing a documentary on animal rights entitled ""The Witness.""
""After that I felt like I didn't have a choice. Vegetarian just wasn't enough,"" she said.
Both Rauwald and Murphy reported that beginning a vegan lifestyle is difficult.
""I hadn't figured out all of the tricks to being vegan; just how to get food and what questions to ask and what to avoid,"" Murphy said.
""Once you take the dive it's scary at first but really rapidly you learn it's not that big of a deal,"" Rauwald added.
Murphy and Rauwald pointed out that becoming vegan caused them to become more socially aware.
""When faced with one injustice you tend to be willing to learn from others who know about other injustices,"" Murphy said.
Rauwald concurred, citing her belief against killing animals as her connection with other people.
""When you're involved with animal rights you meet a lot of people who also care about other things,"" Rauwald said.
