I’m running for office because I see so many people my age who struggle to become engaged and feel acknowledged in our civic process, and I don’t want the next generation to experience the same frustration. I will always support Alice, a 7th-generation Nebraskan, in whatever she chooses to do—going away to school, traveling, working, creating, as long as she is pursuing what makes her happy. But I wouldn’t be keeping my commitment as a mother if I didn’t do everything I could to make this a place where she, and all other young people, could be happy to call home.