The Big Day!
Hey everyone, sorry I haven’t written in a while, but that’s because it was getting close to the end of the year and I was super busy with finals and senior pranks and everything. Guess what? I graduated! It is so crazy that I am actually done with high school. It is really exciting, and know I am going to have a lot of fun at Stanford, but I am also really sad. I made some really incredible friends at Sonoma Academy, and I got really close to some of my teachers and some of the staff. I know I can come back and visit, but SA is a really close community and losing that is sad. I cried through all of graduation…even when I was getting my diploma(you can see it in the picture if you look hard). But anyway, its over!! Yeah ’06!!!!!!!!
This is me and my best friend Haleryn and my good friend Danny after graduating.
Judi Silva said,
June 22, 2006 at 2:23 pm
Hi Amy,
Congratulations on graduating from high school! All the best to you in Stanford too! Great news on the Amy’s Food expanding to a second plant! Way to go!
Judi
Nicki Baker said,
June 22, 2006 at 3:59 pm
Aww Congratulations! Good luck in whatever you do from here on out.
april said,
June 22, 2006 at 7:30 pm
congrats! I was wondering if you have any advice for my daughter who has just been diagnosised with celiac disease and has a hard time responding to friends who make comments on why she can’t eat wheat product. ps we love the food that your family makes.
Amy said,
June 22, 2006 at 11:40 pm
Thank you for all of the congratulations guys!
To April:
Sometimes I think that the things that are the most helpful in situations like this are just to here stories from people who have gone through similar things. I don’t know how old your daughter is, but when I was in elementary school and junior high, my friends were MEAN about me being a vegetarian. Some of my “friends” went through a phase when they would try to slip little slices of meat into my sandwiches when I wasn’t looking because they wanted to see what would happen, so every day I would have to inspect my lunch before I ate it.
And because I don’t eat eggs, whenever I went to a birthday party I would have to bring my own desert, which was embarrasing at first but then I realized that it was just something I was going to have to deal with, and as soon as it stopped being a big deal for me, it stopped being a big deal with my friends.
I am never one to make someone go out of their way to change things or do something extra, so it was always uncomfortable to be in situations at someone else’s house where I could not eat a single thing on the table, and they would have to make something seperate for me. I would feel guilty, but then I realized that my two options should not be to feel guilty or to starve. People with special diets have right to eat whatever they have to, and for me, my comfort with my diet around others simply came with time, experience, and support from my family and other people with special diets.
As to responding to comments, the simpler the answer the better. “I’m allergic and I get sick if I eat it,” will usually be enough. And if they are going to be mean about it, there isn’t really much you can do except not be friends with those people(I definately did not learn this lesson early enough). Some kids can be more vicous than adults just because they can.
At a certain point I realized that no-one really cares, they might be curious for a few minutes but we are all so self absorbed at any young age (including teenage years) that they move right on to their next thought if you don’t make a big deal about it. It is like the point when you realize that everyone is so worried about how they look that they don’t really care how you look. It’s not them, it’s you that has to be comfortable with and accept your diet. It takes a while though, especially if you still want to be eating the things you can’t.
Sincerely
-Amy Berliner
Bob said,
June 23, 2006 at 12:14 am
I can sympathise with you when it comes to friends trying to make you eat meat and such. I have gone through the same thing myself when I decided to become vegetarian about 15 years ago. To this day, some people still want to tease me about not eating meat. The best thing to do is to be firm and stand your ground. I eat what I want and you eat what you want. Why does it have to be the same?
Congrats on graduation. You are a beautiful girl and have a good future ahead of you. Too bad I couldn’t have met you when I was your age. I love your line of products. They are great for bringing to work on days when I eat through my lunch hour (I do that in order to leave a little early to be with my family more).
Maurine said,
June 23, 2006 at 3:11 pm
Amy,
Congratulations and good luck!
What will you be majoring in at Stanford?
Adriana said,
June 23, 2006 at 11:33 pm
Hi Amy, congratulatons! I hope you’re enjoying yourself during the most exciting times of your life. Yes, you’re going to miss home, but you will also be out there discovering new things this magnificent world shares with us, and you’re going to have a great time. ^_^
I really like your blog, I enjoyed reading it. Will you have time to update once you go to Stanford? ..hope so. Best of luck in your journey. Many blessings!
David Frank said,
June 24, 2006 at 9:10 am
Amy,
Dont worry about your mean friends who tried to tease you about being a veggie. all you can do is that you just be yourself in the best way.
Yes my deaf friends tried to tease me but they realized that I was a veggie warrior. Finally they respected me becaue I did challnaged them by saying “why not you eat only meat no veggie at all daily. They can not challnage me back.
Stanford univeristy has some american sign language (asl) classes. why not you learn asl.
Craig Jones said,
June 24, 2006 at 10:13 am
Congratulations on graduating and getting into Stanford.
I was wondering what your main interests are as you get ready to
head off to college this fall?
Remember to have fun with whatever you decide to focus on.
Catherine Burn said,
April 11, 2007 at 10:36 am
I like your food, but if you only new the half of the information the “media” doesn’t tell you…you might have a different view!