In a country that is experiencing a resurgence of political interest amongst its youth likened to the pre-Kennedy era, twenty-five year old John Wilson’s campaign for State Representative in Topeka, Kansas represented this generation’s challenge: sustained awareness and activism. I spoke with Wilson just a few weeks before his narrow defeat to Tom Sloane, a fourteen-year incumbent of the position. Probing his motivations to enter public office at such a young age as well as his views concerning sustainable energy, the United States’ tarnished foreign policy, governmental regulation in the private sector, and American youth involvement in social affairs, the political hopeful’s candor and innate zeal for public service became refreshingly apparent. …Perhaps the energy that President-elect Barack Obama mustered, coupled with the awareness that the September 11th attacks and Hurricane Katrina awakened will prove their resilience in the coming years after all, motivating more young American professionals to get involved in service-oriented efforts and careers.