More than 200 college students, and even a few high-schoolers, from across the Northeast met up at Boston College this weekend for the New England Student Summit. They got to work right away, learning the organizing basics, practicing their data skills, and making calls to young voters. Now, they’re ready to dive in headfirst: they’re already planning a trip to New Hampshire next weekend to talk to students on campuses across the Granite State.

Here in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, we're always there for our neighbors. We organize with them, work with them, and help them when they need support. This is especially true when it comes to the Obama campaign: We’ve got New Hampshire’s back—and this weekend we’re going to prove it.

April 14th is our next canvassing day of action in New Hampshire. Teams from Massachusetts will be carpooling to several locations in the Granite State, where we'll be talking with voters about President Obama’s accomplishments in his first term and building support for the November election.

Whether you're an experienced campaigner or a first-time volunteer, now is the perfect time to get involved. We're forming neighborhood teams throughout Massachusetts to create a strong network of support for the President, and volunteering on April 14 is a great way to get to know other supporters in your area. When we get to New Hampshire we'll get all the information and training needed to reach out to New Hampshire voters—then knock on doors together to share our positive message for President Obama. RSVP now to join us on the 14th!

Can’t make it this weekend? There are also team meetings, house parties, and lots of other great campaign events that make it easy for you to start sharing your skills and enthusiasm. Help us keep you informed of events in your area: sign up to volunteer today.

Remember: this campaign will only be as strong as our volunteers—so join in today. Thank you for all you do.

“As a retired pediatrician and policy board member in an inner-city health center, I can see the positive impacts of the Massachusetts health care reforms in helping large numbers of new patients—who had previously had no health care coverage—access preventative primary care. I support President Obama's Affordable Care Act because it will be benefiting patients and society on a national scale by expanding access to affordable coverage,decreasing both emergency room visits and costly hospitalizations that we all pay for.”

This is Dr. Bonnie Norton’s story of why she supports President Obama, and now she’s ready to tell it to others. Bonnie was one of a crowd of more than 60 of the President’s supporters who recently filled theAuburndale Community Library in Newton, Massachusetts, to learn how to publicly share and spread enthusiasm for the accomplishments we’ve made as a country during President Obama’s first term—and how the President’s policies have made a positive difference in our lives.

At the Newton messaging training event, hosted by Phyllis Kirschner, the crowd heard from Massachusetts Obama for America state director Carl Nilsson, field organizer Kristina Bigdeli, and volunteers who shared their personal stories of why they are supporting the President.

Supporters talked with each other about their personal connections to the President’s health care reforms, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, educational reforms, foreign policies, and other accomplishments that have touched them and their loved ones.

Trainings like these are underway throughout the country—and are a great way to go from saying “I’m in!” to learning how to share your excitement and story with others in your community. Find a messaging training or other event to support the President in an area near you.

In a new video, Massachusetts’ own Elizabeth Warren lays out the choice voters are facing this November and what it means for the direction we want our country to take. As Warren explains in a new clip from “The Road We’ve Traveled,” this election is about “Whether or not we are going to be a people who say 'I got mine, the rest of you are on your own,' or whether we're going to be a people who say "We can invest in our future, and we can build a real future.’”

Take a moment to watch the video—then share it with your friends and family.

My name is Hanna Gerhard. I’m 69 years old, and I’m a volunteer with Obama 2012 in Winthrop, Massachusetts.

I came to the U.S. from Germany more than 40 years ago—in fact, I’ve lived here longer than I ever lived there. My experience is the immigrant experience in many ways: I came over when I was young and very interested in public affairs. It was the 1960s, and I was particularly inspired by President Kennedy and his call to Americans: What can you do for your country? I came here not because I had hardships, but because I was curious. I wanted to know more about America—this old democracy that seemed to be rejuvenating itself.

I was quite active in politics right from the beginning. I worked for Senator Kennedy in Massachusetts and on several presidential campaigns—I remember driving around with a bumper sticker that said “Don’t blame me, I’m from Massachusetts!” after we were the only state to vote for George McGovern.

After the Reagan revolution, when the country turned sharply right, the public discourse became more and more strident and I started to find myself in the minority of opinion. I wasn’t as involved anymore—I did some minor campaign work, but it was almost as if I had lost my belief in what I thought was so special about America.

In 2008, when then-Senator Obama came along, I immediately decided this was a candidate I was going to support. One of the things I find so important about him is he represents the values I think we all share. It’s not just an economic issue—it’s the idea of being there for one another. When I listened to him then and heard him say “I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sister’s keeper,” I thought: That’s my candidate!

I’ve stayed involved since then, helping to get teams off the ground in cities around Massachusetts—and, of course, my own team where I live. It’s a busy time for us right now. We’re trying to grow our groups, increase our activities, and get the word out about the President’s accomplishments, and more generally the values that he represents. That’s what I always go back to. It’s the most important thing: This President is guided by principle, not politics.

It isn’t just the President who says this is a make-or-break moment for the middle class—I think so, too. That’s what makes this campaign so important and interesting and different. We’re having a nationwide discussion right now—one that can get very heated and not very polite—on what this country is all about and what American democracy really means. On the one hand, President Obama says everybody should have a fair shot, and everybody should play by the same rules, no matter where you grew up, what race you are, or what your parents had. On the other hand, you have the candidates talking about ending “big government,” and rolling back a lot of the legislation President Obama has passed. Our job is to make sure people have a clear understanding of the choices and what’s at stake. Our most important work starts when someone asks “what has he done?” That’s when we go over some of the monumental achievements of this administration and start a conversation about things like health care, or equal rights, or the environment—whatever is most important to that person.

I like to remind people we can’t start building an organization in September, because this is a crucial election—it’s not going to be easy, and it’s not going to be hopeless. It’s going to be a real battle, and we have to have our organization together. We have to give our volunteers a chance to educate themselves and maybe learn some of the new ways to communicate with voters—you can’t learn that in 10 days. And we need to carry certain states and be on target in others, which means that one of our obligations in states like Massachusetts is to do what we can to help people next door in New Hampshire.

The urgency is already here—we had our primary this week. Spring is right around the corner, and then comes summer, and before you know it there’s fall and the election is coming. The way I see it, we don’t have the luxury of all that much time. We need to organize, and it doesn’t happen overnight.

Keep up with Hanna on Twitter, and follow the Massachusetts blog for updates from the field.