This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

After raising a family in Canada and being recently widowed, I'm back at Brigham Young University in Provo again. But lots has changed: the roads, even major buildings. The traffic is much denser and faster than "back in the day."

Then there's me. I'm different.

First time around, I was just 17 and wanted to date, party and have fun. But now, as a great-grandma, I study lots and keep a pretty low profile on the party scene.

But there's another huge difference. This time around I'm an American.

In the '90s, my brother discovered he was eligible for an American passport due to our grandparents' births in the U.S.A. I didn't intend to live anywhere but Canada, but I thought, "Why not?" (as the U.S. was not yet demanding income taxes from "citizens living abroad.") I made the trip to Calgary, found the U.S. Consulate, paid for expensive parking, got scanned for weapons, took advantage of my brother's careful research and filled out the paperwork ... and got my American passport in the mail.

Easy as that, I became a dual citizen. But I still continued to live in Canada.

Then many years later I unexpectedly returned to BYU. Of all the times to be here! The election loomed.

As a stereotypically polite, deferential and cooperative Canadian, I found myself embarrassed by the rhetoric coming from both parties, and my friends at home agreed. We could hardly believe the playground bullying that was going on.

When I saw Evan McMullin on social media, I was immediately interested. I'll admit I'm partial to the name Evan, which we also gave to our youngest son. It means "little warrior" in Welsh.

I started investigating the McMullin policy positions and spreading the word to my skeptical friends and family. I ushered at the first Provo rally. One hundred were expected but about 1,000 turned up. The excitement was palpable. An alternative had arrived!

What does Evan McMullin offer? First, despite my own occasional railing against ageism, I can't ignore Evan's youth and good health, incredibly valuable attributes when stamina is the name of the game; and when one might need to make major, world-impacting decisions in the middle of the night.

Evan's CV offers intrigue and mystery but also solid achievement. He's kind of "one of us" but a new improved, heroic version who's caught terrorists and helped refugees.

Also, as Gladys Knight, looking skyward, said at her BYU Homecoming performance last week, "You gotta walk the walk, if you belong to Him." Evan McMullin does that in spades. We are all God's children, so we all deserve equal treatment with no discrimination; and that concept can improve race relations, including with police, McMullin claims, as well as guide national policies in immigration and refugee matters. I like that. And there's lots more.

I imagine some of my Utah relatives, experienced both in politics and sarcasm, will laugh at my naivete. But Evan's recent live Facebook talk from a black church in Atlanta got 2.6k viewers at one point and "broke the internet" temporarily.

And no, I'm not just splitting the vote. In 43 states or more, Evan will be on the ballot by Nov. 8. He has well over 300 electoral votes available to him and, as my American government textbook teaches, he could actually win. So forgive me, a born-and-bred Canadian and only recent American, for speaking up. I don't know much about U.S. politics, but I know a good man when I see and hear him. And Evan McMullin is a supremely good man.

Jacalyn Hudson Miller is a non-traditional BYU student (63 years old) from Cardston, Alberta, Canada, currently renting a basement room in Provo.