Our fifth and final excursion across the United States during the last week of August took us to the Great Plains, where we visited two towns of similar landscape, but spoke with two Gen Nexters who couldn't have been more different.

Stop No. 1 for Judy Woodruff and the Generation Next team was the small farming town of Leoti, Kan. Leoti (pronounced Lee-o-tah) is home to a few grain elevators, a large feedlot and miles upon miles of farmland.

Judy interviewed Cole Carpenter, a 24-year-old farmer who learned how to work the land from his grandfather Dale Appl. Cole is married to a schoolteacher in Leoti and has spent most of his life in the town. Unlike many of his peers, he has no intention of leaving.

Judy spoke to Cole about his decision to become a farmer, a career that frequently entails hardship and uncertainty and depends each year upon the whims of mother nature.

Cole and Dale also explained how Cole has helped introduce new technologies to the farming operation, including GPS devices that help improve efficiency and reduce costs. And, unlike past generations of farmers who did not have the luxuries of cell phones and satellite radio, Cole has lots of gadgets that help him stay connected to friends and the outside world as he works the land.

After Leoti, we drove west to Colorado -- and arrived in Pueblo as the Colorado State Fair parade marched by. Later that afternoon, Judy and the team met Sgt. Gabe Ballejos at his home. Gabe joined the Army directly out of high school, looking for an opportunity to travel the world … and a way out of his sleepy hometown. Three days before 9/11, he re-enlisted, and on his 22nd birthday he arrived in Iraq for his first tour of duty.

Now potentially facing a third tour, Gabe was both stoic in describing his sense of duty and emotional when talking about the relationships he has made and left behind.

Over the next few days, we spent a significant amount of time engaging this young man -- joining his family in a musical worship service, enjoying a weekend barbeque and watching Gabe train at his base on Ft. Carson.

Finally, we returned to the Midwest to meet a 23-year-old woman struggling to complete her education with three young children in tow in Michigan. LaKeesha Perry lives in Detroit and attends classes at Focus HOPE -- a mechanical training institute still building on what remains of the auto-industry in the "Rust Belt" of America. Six of her 11 siblings are on welfare, sitting at home, she said, doing nothing. This bothers her, so she is determined to build a different life for her children and herself.

If you have any questions about our project, please feel free to contact us at generation-next@newshour.org.