Voices: why I'm volunteering for ... Barack Obama: there's nothing more motivating than discovering that your passion is shared by others.

• Author: Celeste, Julia
• Position: ELECTION 2008 - Essay

The idea of the country being unified, sharing a single purpose, and fighting for the common goal of a stronger, more stable America is what motivated me to volunteer for Barack Obama's campaign.

The first time I was inspired by Senator Obama was during his keynote speech at the Democratic Convention four years ago. "We are not a red America, we are not a blue America," he said. "We are the United States of America." And after seeing Obama in person at a primary debate in Ohio last March, I was impressed by his ideas, his authenticity, and his promise to represent all of America.

Even though I've just turned 15, this isn't the first presidential campaign I've been involved in. In 2000, when Vice President At Gore was running for President, I canvassed door to door with my father in our neighborhood in Shaker Heights, a suburb of Cleveland. Four years later, during John Kerry's campaign, I sat between my two older siblings making calls to ensure that every voter who needed a ride to the polls had one.

But in this election, the tables have turned: It's my parents who are walking next to me, and I'm the one recruiting my siblings and friends to volunteer for Obama.

I can't vote because I'm not 18, and I can't contribute my own money because I'm not yet 16--but there's no age restriction on volunteering. That's why, despite a busy school schedule and varsity fail sports, I go once or twice a week for about three hours to canvass, staff phone banks, or help out at...