My name is Raquel

I'm back at university after years of being away.

We had to design a web page for class, so here it is. (c:

These are the important things in my life.

• My daughter, the smartest, most compassionate teen-ager you'll ever meet.
• My family. We are a tight knit bunch.
• My friends, the dear ones I have now, and the dear ones I've lost.
• School. I really love being back in school. my major is Photography but I'd like to double major in that and either Psychology or Nutrition.
• God (no, I'm not a bible thumper), but I do recognize that without God I would have none of the things I hold dear, and I do love God. Go ahead, make fun of me....get it out of your system.

The only thing I will wail on you for is if you are being unfair or unjust with any living creature. Call me a militant if you must (like some have), but I don't believe animals were put on this earth for us to use and abuse.

We were giving stewardship over them and this planet. We are messing it up, hurting them, our planet, and ourselves.

As animal rights abolitionist Gary L. Francione says:

"The most important form of incremental change is the decision by the individual to become vegan.

Veganism, or the eschewing of all animal products, is more than a matter of diet or lifestyle; it is a political and moral statement in which the individual accepts the principle of abolition in her own life.

Veganism is the one truly abolitionist goal that we can all achieve—and we can achieve it immediately, starting with our next meal.

If we are ever going to effect any significant change in our treatment of animals and to one day end that use, it is imperative that there be a social and political movement that actively seeks abolition and regards veganism as part of the moral baseline."

So, in short, GO VEGAN!

Photography.

I like making pictures. I've heard people say that pictures never lie, I disagree.

I see pictures lie all the time. I can take a picture of myself and make it look like I'm 16 (without editing it). I can take a picture of someone sad and make them look content. It's all in the way the photographer sees the world.

Just as easily as a picture can lie, it can also reveal a hidden truth. That's what makes it exciting. You can tell stories that people have never heard before. You can "out" a cruel person who pretends to be kind or, you make people see the beauty in a dirty, gritty city.

I haven't always been able to afford a good camera or even a camera, but like a lot of people, I used to look at things and wish I could capture them the way my mind's eye saw it.

I'm finally doing what I love. Granted, it's not my camera, it's the school's, but I still get to make pictures....yay!