TOWAMENCIN- Young activists are making history by being the voices for the voiceless and by urging a change that is needed for our world today. North Penn High School senior Jay Patel is on a journey to make the world a better place.

As an animal rights and environmental activist, Patel attends protests in New York to promote veganism and environmental awareness.

“I feel like it’s important to protect our environment for the sake of our future generations and children. I feel it’s unfair for us to treat animals in the way we do by taking advantage of them and making profit off of them. I don’t think that’s right,” explained Patel.

Patel believes that changing our diets will have a long-lasting impact on our future. The beef we consume releases methane, which is one of the worst greenhouse gases and one of the leading causes of global warming. Cutting that out automatically decreases the amount of methane released into the atmosphere.

Patel feels that the only way to inspire others to become activists themselves is through education.

“I feel like a lot of consumers don’t know what they’re consuming and where it’s coming from or what impact it has on the environment. I think if you can educate people and let people know what really is going on, then they would change their minds,” said Patel.

For some students, Patel is known for being on homecoming court. He expressed how it was a fun experience having everyone from all sides of North Penn come together to be on the court.

One of the most interesting things about Patel is his ability to speak multiple languages. His first languages were Gujarati and Hindi, and he learned English through school. He has been studying German for five years and Japanese for three.

“I think it’s really cool to communicate with other people from around the world and also I feel like you can’t really connect with someone unless you’re speaking their native tongue,” said Patel.

Throughout the years Patel has been learning all of these languages, he has earned two medals for the National German Exam and one for the National Japanese Exam.

With his ability to speak multiple languages, Patel feels like different person every time he speaks a certain language. He enjoys learning the beauty of each language and how they’re so different.

Patel also had the opportunity to visit Germany. He saw the architecture in the cities and instantly fell in love.

“You don’t see that kind of architecture here. There are old buildings that are preserved and there’s the same architectural sense while here we have new and developed cities,” explained Patel.

Life in Germany was completely different than here in America for Patel. German school starts later and has a very long break in between for lunch which lasted for an hour and thirty minutes. He also took the public transport instead of a school bus to go to school. Overall, the culture was different there.

Patel is involved in various extracurriculars including North Penn Chamber singers, Mens choir, German Club, International Friendship Club, and Thespian troupe. He loves to sing and has been singing for nine years. He’s been in competitive choirs like PMEA Districts, regions, and state choirs. This year he will be going to All Eastern in  February, which involves 15 states competing against each other.

Patel plans to get enrolled in a school in Europe and has applied to Bard College Berlin, Jacobs University, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, American University of Paris, and American University of Rome. This summer, he plans to travel around Europe and Japan and live life on the other side of the world.