Danielle Feole knew the drill taking her son Joey, 6, to see President Joe Biden.

The wait to hear the president would be long, so she packed an iPad and Grey, the stuffed animal wolf that’s attached to her son’s hip.

The afternoon in Concord would be memorable – Joey, with a gap-tooth smile absent two front teeth, put on a tie and a button-down shirt – to join hundreds of others at NHTI to see the sitting president.

“I just want him to be aware of the world and the different issues,” she said. “And know that he has a voice and I want him to be involved.”

Feole, 44, drove up to Concord from Salem to see Biden alongside U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and members of New Hampshire’s federal delegation.

Biden painted a grim picture of healthcare in America. In the richest country in the world, people lay in bed at night, stressing over unexpected medical bills and high healthcare costs, he said.

“It’s not capitalism. It is exploitation,” Biden said. “When Big Pharma doesn’t play by the rules, competitors can’t offer lower-priced drugs and devices they carry so prices are artificially high.”

He offered a sign of progress: Medicare is now able to negotiate lower prices for 10 prescription drugs for seniors, thanks to Sanders’ leadership, as well.

“Bernie and I have both been doing this work for a long time. I know we both look like we’re 40 but we’re a little older,” Biden said. “We know we’ve made historic progress.”

For young voters in the audience, it was a chance to hear from the president one last time before November’s election and capitalize on a new energy in the party with Vice President Kamala Harris leading the ticket.

Aubree Herzog can’t vote in this election. That hasn’t stopped the 17-year-old high school senior from Claremont from helping her classmates participate, though.

She’ll register to vote in May when she turns 18, right before graduating from Stevens High School. Next year, she hopes to go to school in Washington D.C., where she can study politics.

Herzog has focused on voter registration ahead of the election and canvassed during the September primary for Maggie Goodlander, the Democratic candidate in New Hampshire’s second congressional district.

In doing so, she feels the nerves, and excitement, from peers.

“There’s so much at stake and people are kind of scared,” she said. “It’s kind of negative almost but I think people are thinking about what’s at stake with reproductive rights and climate change and global warming.”

Participating in Youth and Government, a national program that engages students in the democratic process, Herzog has learned more about civic engagement and its benefit.

But she admits, she hears the same refrain from friends – “I don’t really care so much.”

“It’s so important to get students involved in politics from an early age and get rid of this apathy that comes around with politics,” she said. “It affects everyone.”

Owen Simoes, 18, of Concord understands that disconnect.

To most people his age politicians are archaic – just look at the age gap between newly minted 18-year-olds and politicians like Biden, 81, and Sanders, 83.

“That can feel daunting,” Simoes said. “They can feel like, how can this person ever connect with what I care about?”

Simoes hopes to break it down for his friends who would tune out stump speeches otherwise. Leading up to the election, he is hosting a political podcast called “Youth in the Booth” with Concord TV, where he interviews politicians, journalists and campaign staff.

In his most recent episode, he spoke with U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen about the importance of voting and the disconnect between young voters and candidates today.

“The main thing I focus on is trying to demystify the process between what our political leaders are doing, because I feel like there’s a gap as a young person,” he said. “There’s no connection, partially age, partially ideals.”

In 2020, Simoes was 14 when he saw a “MATH” hat from Andrew Yang’s presidential campaign – “Make America think harder.”

With people his age, that’s what he’s hoping to do – get his friends and classmates thinking about the election and participating, regardless of party.

“Some people are excited to vote, some people don’t care,” he said. “I see people on both ends being excited just a good thing. It doesn’t matter what you’re voting for, if you’re excited about an election, you’re excited for politics and you want to vote, doesn’t matter who that is. That is a good motto to have, and that should continue.”

He’s noticed first-time voters his age are starting to tune in about policy issues. Many care about women’s and LGBTQ rights. Others are seeing the impact of inflation as they buy their first car and pay attention to gas prices.

To Feole, all issues today feel pressing.

She first began to engage in politics – and now serves as the vice chair of the Salem Democratic Town Committee – over her concerns with the environment and climate change.

“But now I feel like everything is an issue,” she said. “And it feels like a very scary time to not be active.”

And while Biden took the stage at NHTI to chants of “thank you Joe” from the audience, Feole still felt his decision to step down was correct, ushering in a new era with Harris and her running mate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who are both 60 years old.

Biden made a pitch for Harris while trying to communicate to the audience what’s at stake in the future.

“We are at one of those inflection points,” Biden said. “The decisions we make in the next election are going to determine what this country looks like for the next four or five decades.”

With the future on her mind, Feole was happy she and Joey made it to the event.

“I love Joe Biden. I think he’s done a great job but I think somebody young and getting Kamala is the right move,” she said. “The enthusiasm and energy has really changed since that happened and getting more young active and excited about the election.”