Service is an opportunity for young women to really empower themselves.

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

Millennials are often portrayed as apathetic, disinterested, tuned out and selfish. None of those adjectives describe the Millennials I've been privileged to meet and work with.

That's not what I want my children to hear. That's not representative of the country that I want my children to grow up in. And so that actually I found far more upsetting as a mom, as a woman, as an American, and even as my mother's daughter than anything they said about my mom.

My parents were very firm about me always getting my homework done.

For most young Americans I know, 'serving' in the broadest sense now seems like the only thing to do.

Determination gets you a long way.