I was 18 years old, walking down the aisle in a white dress, about to promise my life away. With my knees and hands shaking, I decided to go through with the biggest decision a half-child, half-adult would ever make. I had the option to either stay behind or go with my high school sweetheart to Alaska, where he is stationed in the U.S. Air Force. I decided to venture out, knowing I could always come back but would never get the opportunity to go again if I let it pass.

I put my big-girl pants on, packed my bags, said my good byes and flew over 3,000 miles to Anchorage – the place I called home until April of this year.

Things there are completely different. Moose roam the streets like motorists and always get the right-of-way. The winter months have 20 hours of nighttime and below-zero temperatures.

I learned to become patient when I woke up to find a foot of snow covering my vehicle, and I would rejoice when the weatherman would forecast an above-freezing day because that meant I could wear short sleeves and flip-flops.

Along with these changes in lifestyle came a different perspective on politics.

As a print journalism major, I was obligated to keep up with the latest political news in Alaska, including Gov. Sarah Palin.

I remember hearing about Palin’s last-minute flight to Juneau from a government meeting in the “lower 48” to deliver her youngest child earlier this year.

It was just a couple days later that she was reportedly back on the go and working again.

It’s like she just stopped to have a baby and went on with her everyday routine.

While I sat wondering why a woman going into labor would possibly want to fly on an airplane, the rest of Alaska welcomed the new baby and rejoiced at Palin’s safe delivery.

I came to learn that this was a typical audience’s reaction to Palin’s actions and decisions as governor.

While living in Anchorage, I never heard one negative remark about Palin – not even in the news. She was well received and admired by Alaskan residents to the point that I began to wonder if she could also fly and walk on water.

I became used to the Palin epidemic so much that I grew to like her myself.

I admire Palin and her ability to be both a politician and a mom. She juggles a busy work life with an equally demanding home life-taking care of five children, one a special-needs baby and another a pregnant teenager.

Any woman who can handle such domestic obstacles while still running a state and walking in heels deserves more credit than Palin has been given.

Some people say she lacks the experience and knowledge to be the second-in-command of our country, probably knowing more about having babies and shooting deer than about a political agenda.

Others feel her performance at the vice presidential debate last month portrayed her as a na’ve politician who avoids discussing the “real” issues and uses her hockey-mom persona to her advantage.

What some don’t realize is that it was a debate many expected Palin would fail at. As the world waited for her to fall flat on her face, she held her own and delivered a performance that I found refreshing, entertaining and even humorous in comparison to Joe Biden’s, which was on the verge of putting me to sleep.

Let’s face it – Palin’s fatal flaw is the fact that she’s a young female and probably the most attractive person to ever run on a major U.S. party ticket.

While her years of experience may dwindle in comparison to that of McCain and the Democratic presidential and vice presidential candidates, the roles she has fulfilled in those years has made her perfectly qualified to fill Vice President Dick Cheney’s shoes.

She offers the Republican campaign something her running mate doesn’t – jubilance and passion.

With Sen. John McCain’s experience and Palin’s energy, the duo has the entire package necessary to efficiently run the country.

Thus, age and gender are no excuses as to why Palin would not be a good vice president.

The real issue here is that Palin is not a walking Webster with gray hair and 20 years of experience in the Senate.

She is different. But for a country in need of change, maybe different isn’t so bad.