During a trip to a meat shop for a holiday honey baked ham, a fourth grader was confronted by a mob of PETA members rallying outside. In reference to the beloved movie, they told her, “You’re eating Babe!”

“They were yelling at us with pictures of pigs being brutally murdered,” she said. “That’s the first time I realized what was behind the pork chop.”

After that day she decided to become vegetarian.

Jocelyn Canty, now 20, is on the De Anza cross country team, and is a graphic design major, but said she dreams to someday be a veterinarian.

Canty enrolled in an animal science class that required her to volunteer at an animal shelter where she discovered her comfortability with the work of veterinarians.

“I watched surgeries all the time like cats getting neutered or spayed or getting an eye popped out and it didn’t bother me at all; I loved it. I was like, ‘I need to do this’,” she said.

Canty said she then decided to change her major.

“There was more depth to what I could learn but I’ll always do art,” she said.

As a full time student on the cross country team, with two jobs, Canty said she doesn’t have a lot of time for leisure, but stays busy with art when she has the chance.

“What I mostly do in my free time is my graphic design work,” she said. “I do a lot of spray paint and multimedia art work.”

Canty uses her art skills to promote the pop punk and ska music scene in San Jose, making album art, T-shirts and flyers for local bands.

Her participation in cross country started last year after running a warm up lap in a fitness class taught by De Anza’s cross country coach Nick Mattis. He said he recognized potential in her form.

“She was beating the other people in the class on running activities and seemed a bit competitive,” Mattis said, “So I started recruiting her.”

Although Canty didn’t have any prior experience in running as a sport, she accepted Mattis’ offer to try out.

“When else am I going to do this in my life? Be in shape like this and run like this ever again?” she said. “So basically, I was like ‘Let’s do it! Might as well.’ ”

Since the start of her cross country experience, Canty has dealt with a reoccurring injury in her lower back, and ankle tendinitis, making running painful for her.

After a blood test, Canty discovered that she has anemia, which develops when the body lacks the mineral iron. Young female athletes and vegetarians both have a higher chance of becoming anemic.

“I thought I was just tired,” Canty said. “I would wake up everyday like ‘Is this the rest of my life?’”

Despite her numerous ailments, Canty said she maintains a positive attitude about her situation and takes supplements to keep her iron levels balanced.

Mattis said Canty’s presence on the track is crucial for the success of the cross country team and he hopes to have her back on the track soon.

“Jocelyn is a bit of the glue,” Mattis said. “She keeps the group together and grounded.”