As a sophomore in high school, I was lucky enough to take part in the Governor’s Institute of Vermont on Current Issues and Youth Activism. It was here, on the campus of Brattleboro’s School of International Training, that I was introduced to many of the ideas that would shape my thinking for years to come. It was also where I met Senator Bernie Sanders, then newly-elected to the post.

Sanders was there to talk to a dozen zit-faced teenagers about income inequality. It was before the rhetoric about the “1%,” but it was the same core concept: the majority of the wealth in this country was and continues to be held by a small minority of people. He was quiet, but passionate, holding up his finger to enunciate his points.

Now running for president, Sanders keeps that same idea at the center of his stump speech. “This is a pivotal moment in American history,” Sanders said in Coney Island last week. “What we are seeing today is a grotesque level of income and wealth inequality. We are seeing the top one-tenth of one percent owning almost as much wealth as the bottom ninety percent. We are seeing the twenty wealthiest people in this country owning more wealth than the bottom half of America — one-hundred and fifty million people.”

I first heard Sanders almost ten years ago, but his concern and activism for underprivileged Americans began long before that. Much has already been made of the fact that Sanders was arrested during civil rights protests in Chicago, when Sanders was a twenty-one year old college student. Less has been said about his work as the mayor of Burlington, Vermont, from 1981 to 1989. Last summer, The Nation suggested that these eight years would “be under close scrutiny.” That hasn’t really happened on a national stage quite yet, which is frustrating for supporters: The Nation found Bernie to be an effective executive who partnered with Republicans to “carry out his vision for more affordable housing, more locally owned small businesses, greater community engagement in planning, and job development.”

When Sanders launched his campaign along the same Burlington waterfront that he revitalized as mayor, he didn’t expect to ever beat Hillary Clinton. Instead, as the New York Times notes, “his mission in 2015 was to spread his political message about a rigged America rather than do whatever it took to win the nomination.” This early outlook cost him votes — Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight frequently reminds readers that the math is not on his side.

Regardless of the math, I’ll be voting for Sanders in New York’s primary this coming Tuesday. To me and many of his supporters, Sanders represents a complete break from the standard political process. In another race, a Senator and former Congressperson may not be considered an “outsider,” but when compared to Hillary Clinton, who could not be more of an insider if she tried, a Sanders campaign is tantamount to the head of the Socialist Party making a formidable run for the White House.

The math is against Sanders in other ways. Take the fact that Clinton earned more from a single speech to Deutsche Bank AG than Sanders earns in a year. A lack of personal wealth and an unwillingless to take corporate cash has opened the door for Sanders to do something revolutionary: 99.98% of the Sanders campaign’s money came from donations, 66% of which were donations of $200 or less. (Only 72% of Clinton’s money came from donations, 18% of which were donations of $200 or less.) While Sanders is not the first candidate to take advantage of the internet’s power to collect small donations (Sanders’ Vermont compatriot Howard Dean claims that honor), it is remarkable that his campaign is funded primarily by people giving an average of just $27.

It’s not an accident, I think, that Sanders supporters tend to skew young. Many Sanders supporters are experiencing the same excitement that I had back as a sophomore in high school. It was the first time I heard a real politician speak like an activist. For a generation who grew up under President Obama — who promised hope and change and was handcuffed by more of the same — Sanders’ vision of the American people storming Congress and demanding change feels, for the first time, like a viable solution. Sanders reminds us that yes, the American people have a voice in how their country is run. They just have to stand up and claim it.

No matter who wins the nomination and the presidency, it’s crucial that his supporters continue his work. Standing up every four years isn’t going to cut it — to achieve progressive goals, we need to be willing to take part in local and state politics, as well as national issues. We need to make campaign finance reform a major issue every year until it is fixed. We need to make it easier for people without the support of a major party to run for office. And we need to ensure that the wealthiest 1% stop treating the other 99% as a natural resource to be exploited.

Even if Sanders ends up just being a surprisingly competitive message candidate, I’ve seen promising signs that his message has been received. Besides my friends who go to rallies and volunteer for Bernie, I’ve also seen something more remarkable: an acquaintance from college running for public office here in New York, with a Bernie Sanders button on his shirt.