I grew up in Tahoe, spending time in Truckee and South Lake Tahoe. I moved to Colorado to pursue competitive mogul skiing. After reaching many of my goals, a serious injury unfortunately ended that chapter of my life and brought me back to the Tahoe Basin. I returned to South Lake Tahoe to begin studying political science and sociology at Lake Tahoe Community College. I found a new way to put my energy into something I care deeply about: helping people get involved in their communities.
I founded the Young Democrats Committee at LTCC and co-founded 50501 Tahoe and the Tahoe Resistance Alliance. I have helped organize the local No Kings rallies, conducted voter registration outreach, food drives over the holidays, and mobilized people in our communities to use their voice to protect our democracy.
The need to protect our democracy for the future feels urgent now. Around the world, young people and their communities are standing up to corruption and unaccountable power by demanding a voice in how they are governed. Their example reminds me that democracy is not something we can take for granted. It lasts because people keep choosing to participate and defend it.
The 2026 CIVICUS State of Civil Society Report documents this wave of youth-led protest and civic action around the world. We, the youth of Tahoe, need to join this movement.
If young people do not mobilize for democracy, we risk losing one of the largest republics in the world to autocracy. That may sound unthinkable. But a democracy can be weakened when people give up on voting, when leaders ignore the public, and when we become so divided or tired that we stop defending the right of the people to choose their government.
What does this movement look like? It looks like young people bringing their friends into the conversation. It looks like neighbors helping one another understand what is on the ballot, showing up at community events, and making sure their voices are heard. It looks like standing beside immigrant neighbors and defending the rights and dignity of everyone who calls this place home. And it looks like casting a ballot, because democracy depends on people taking part in it.
I truly believe that the United States should be a place where politicians are elected through reason and not treason, through debate and the votes of the people, never through intimidation or force. We have to protect the right of voters to decide who governs and expect our leaders to respect that choice. I want a future where people across the Tahoe Basin can live with dignity and feel safe in their communities. I want peace and prosperity, and a democracy where the public has a real voice in the decisions that shape our lives.
The future is ours to shape, but only if we take part in deciding what it becomes. Young people across the Tahoe Basin need to show up no matter what on November 3 or cast your ballot during early voting. We need to vote for the world we really want.
-By Beck Machin Ward