Sydney Julien is a senior who has a great interest in figure skating, nature and travelling. She recalls her adventurous childhood and the ways in which her experiences led to her growing understanding of cultures (Courtesy of Sydney Julian).
Sydney Julien is a vegan international relations major senior that is serious about figure skating. When you walk up to her, she has a welcoming but reserved smile and seems a little nervous but opens up quickly and kindly. Animated and lively, you can tell she is passionate about what she does and acts determinedly to live her life in-line with the ideals she has for it.
Julien began figure skating when she was four and has been skating ever since. “That winter was very cold, and my parents were annoyed with me after being stuck in the house for a while, so they signed me up for lessons to get me out,” she said. Things got more serious when she started competing at age 11 and she eventually ended up getting lessons from a private coach.
She isn’t just passionate about figure skating; Julien is also an enthusiastic vegan. “I got into it through the environmental perspective, especially the meat industry, but I was just a vegetarian to start,” she said. “As I did more research on animal rights and human issues, I decided that veganism would fit more with my morals and [how] I wanted to live them out.”
Julien wishes that she had known becoming a vegan wouldn’t have been as hard as it seems, because she might have had an easier and faster transition. Julien says it’s not just for rich people—you just have to know why you really want to be a vegan and it becomes easier for you to be creative and find new exciting ways to eat.
Nevertheless, Julien thinks the biggest influence on her life has been her love of travel and her interest in different places and cultures. Her desire to go out and experience new things and seek new perspectives came from her small-town upbringing.
“It’s nice to go home and interact with the same people I’ve been with since childhood, but I never thought I would want to stay there,” Julien said. “I know plenty of people who never leave and have never gotten out. They’re content to work and live in the same town their whole life.” The lack of diverse viewpoints pushed her to get out of her hometown.
Julien has been able to better empathize with others because of her ability to travel and make friends from different countries, which expands her worldviews and knowledge of different cultures. Travelling has really pushed her out of her comfort zone. Though there were some bad experiences in different places, the good balanced out the bad and she has yet to regret any of her explorations.
When asked the last question, she laughed a little and had to think hard about it. “If I were to open up a food truck, it would definitely be vegan food,” she replied. “It would be food that wasn’t completely boring and healthy, but not junk food. It would taste good but not make you feel heavy and bloated.” She would call it Sydney Eats Plants.