I live in a city and a state and a country where I support my elected representatives.

I hadn't planned on or expected to have a public dimension in my life.

I certainly feel a strong call of public service.

Even during my father's 1984 gubernatorial campaign, it was, 'Do you want to grow up and be governor one day?' 'No. I am four.'

I always knew I was the center of my parents.

I do really well in the traditional board games: Backgammon, Checkers.

My mother is very good in Scrabble. In Boggle, my father is probably better.

I think that we need women role models everywhere. I think that it's really hard to imagine yourself as something that you don't see.

We need women who are at the head of a boardroom, like at the head of the White House, at the head of kind of major scientific enterprises so that little girls everywhere can then think, you know what? I can do that, I want to do that, I will do that.

My parents have been incredibly supportive from perhaps the first real independent decision I made to become a vegetarian at 11, which was certainly not consistent with their diet at the time.

For most of my life, I deliberately led a private life in the public eye.

My parents taught me to approach the world critically, but also to approach it with a sense of responsibility.

Oxford is wonderful. I'm having a great time. We do go out, but I still try to spend most of my time studying in the library.

Through their 'Making a Difference' franchise, I am excited to work with NBC News to continue to highlight stories of organizations and individuals who make their communities and our world healthier, more just and more humane.

Over the summer I thought that I would seek out non-Americans as friends, just for diversity's sake. Now I find that I want to be around Americans - people who I know are thinking about our country as much as I am.

I think about how best to live my grandmother's twin mantras that 'Life is not a dress rehearsal' and 'Life is not about what happens to you, but what you do with what happens to you.'

My parents and my grandmother inspire me every day and, every day, in my work and personal life.

I know I'm late, but I've finally joined Facebook!

Every day at some point I encounter some sort of anti-American feeling.

People who imagine and implement solutions to challenges in their own lives, in their communities, in our country and in our world have always inspired me.

The solid, middle-class values of hard work, responsibility, family, community, and faith my father talked about tirelessly from Iowa to New York, he lived at home. The hopes he had for his family and for me, he had for all Americans. I think Americans understood this.

My parents always asked me what I thought, listened to my opinions, articulated their diagnoses of our challenges at home and abroad, and shared their ideas for how to build a more equal and prosperous country. I always felt part of their call to serve and part of my father's journey.

When my father announced his campaign for president on Oct. 3, 1991, I had already cast my vote in favor of his candidacy.

I hope that young people will also look to politics as a vehicle to not only have their voices heard, but actually to be the change makers that they want to see. They are disaffected, understandably, but I hope that young people will not only turn out to vote but also run for office.