Wednesday 27 November 2013
The 15 Most Influential Teens of 2013
Wednesday 27 November 2013 by astroboy
Malala Yousafzai, 16
In 2012, Malala Yousafzai was shot in the head and neck in an
assassination attempt by the Taliban on the bus home from school in
Pakistan. Malala was a target because of her vocal activism to better
the education of girls under Taliban rule. After surviving the attack,
the now-16-year-old didn’t hide in fear but strengthened her voice. “I
speak for education of every child, in every corner of the world,” she
said, and the world has been listening. This year she received the
Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and a Clinton Global Citizen
Award. She was also nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.Lorde, 17
The just-turned 17-year-old New Zealander rocketed to international fame this year with the release of her first album, Pure Heroine.
Proof: New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, who won the election
on a message railing against economic inequality, walked onto stage to
Lorde’s defiant “Royals.” The child prodigy—she signed with a label at
13—is already competing with pop’s biggest stars, surpassing Miley Cyrus
in September for the top spot on iTunes with “Royals.” The
singer-songwriter, whose real name is Ella Yelich-O’Connor, is forging
her own path, turning down an opportunity to join Katy Perry on tour
because, as she said at the time, it “didn’t feel right.”
Lydia Ko, 16
A New Zealand golfer born in South Korea, 16-year-old Lydia Ko has
multiple LPGA wins. She turned pro this year—the LPGA waived the age
requirement for her to join—and she’s already fifth in women’s world
rankings after just 23 tournaments. She’s the youngest person ever to
win a professional golf tour event and the youngest person ever to win
an LPGA tour event (and the only amateur to ever win two LPGA Tour
events).
Nick D’Aloisio, 18
When Marissa Mayer decides to buy your app for $30 million, you know
you’re doing pretty well. When you’re only 17 at the time, “doing pretty
well” is an understatement. Programming whiz kid Nick D’Aloisio sold
Summly, a news-reading and summarizing app, to Yahoo in March. Other
investors include Wendi Murdoch, Yoko Ono, and Ashton Kutcher.
Missy Franklin, 18
The 18-year-old won six gold medals at the 2012 Olympics and in doing so
not only claimed the title of winningest female swimmer ever at a world
meet, but also became the fifth swimmer to capture six or more golds at
Worlds or the Olympics. She won the Women’s Sports Foundation’s
Sportswoman of the Year award this year. And, she joined the Cal swim
team, turning down millions of dollars of endorsements to get a college
degree.
Kendall and Kylie Jenner, 18 & 16
The younger sisters of the Kardashian clan are no strangers to the spotlight. They’re featured in Keeping Up With The Kardashians
with their half-sisters Kim, Khloe and Kourtney, but they’re making
their own waves as well. Kendall, a swimsuit model, and her 16-year-old
sister Kylie have raised eyebrows for their precocious behavior. Perhaps
more importantly, they’ve shown an early talent for deal-making: the
pair launched a clothing line with PacSun this year.
Dante de Blasio, 16
Bill de Blasio might be the Mayor-elect of New York, but his 16-year-old
son Dante is the city’s latest fashion icon. Dante’s now-iconic afro
has starred in a campaign ad, inspired a New York Times Style
section piece, and even gained President Obama’s attention. “Dante has
the same hairdo as I had in 1978,” he said. “Although I have to confess
my Afro was never that good. It was a little imbalanced.” A junior at
Brooklyn Tech, Dante and his sister Chiara (known for her floral
headbands) were front and center in their father’s campaign.Kiernan Shipka, 14
Mad Men’s Sally Draper is the sassiest character on TV, all
thanks to Kiernan Shipka. The 14-year old actress has been playing Don
Draper’s rebellious daughter since she was six and a half, but she’s
still not allowed to watch the hit AMC show. Shipka also nails her red
carpet appearances, with a quirky but age-appropriate style that gets
her raves from the fashionable set. Watch out for her performance as
incestuous Catherine in the Lifetime adaptation of V.C. Andrews’ Flowers In The Attic.
Ionut Budisteanu, 19
The 19-year-old scientist’s design for a low cost, self-driving car won
first place and $75,000 at the Intel International Science and
Engineering Fair for high school students in May. The prototype signals
the potential of manufacturing autonomous driving vehicles to the
masses, costing only $4,000 to build as opposed to Google’s $75,000
self-driving car. Budisteanu, a student in Romania, used artificial
intelligence technology and a mounted camera on the car to identify
traffic lanes, curbs, cars and even people.
Malia Obama, 15
At high-profile events, like her father’s second Inaugural Address,
Malia and her sister, Sasha, act with the poise of adults. Thanks in
part to Michelle Obama, they seem to lead as normal lives as they can
while still meeting the demands of being in the limelight. (Such as
15-year-old Malia’s satirical send up in the Onion.) President Obama often mentions his daughters in speeches, and says that they influenced his stance on gay marriage.Maya Van Wagenen, 15
The 15-year-old author rose to fame for keeping a diary in her quest to
become popular, following antiquated tips from the 1950s self-help book,
Betty Cornell’s Glamour Guide for Teens. Her musings about
applying lessons such as always wearing white gloves and pearls as she
navigated the social scene of a small Texas town landed her a six-figure
Penguin book deal for, Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek.
As if that wasn’t impressive enough, last month DreamWorks optioned the
rights for the novel, making the budding author the “youngest non-actor
to ever make a deal” at the film studio.
Justin Bieber, 19
The Canadian-born pop star has become an industry to himself, valued by
Forbes at $58 million. He released his first single at age 15, and in
2010, he became the youngest solo male artist to hit #1 on Billboards
Hot 100, with My World 2.0, since Stevie Wonder. His high
profile breakup earlier this year with fellow star and girlfriend of two
years Selena Gomez landed him in gossip sections the world over, as did
an altercation in March with a photographer.
Beth Reekles, 17
The Welsh high school student was looking for something to read other
than stories about vampires and werewolves when she decided to write her
own teen fiction book. The then-15-year-old used story-sharing site
Wattpad to release her novel, The Kissing Booth, which earned
more than 19 million views and caught the attention of Random House
Children’s Publishers U.K. The author, now 17, scored a three-book deal
with the U.S. arm of Random House and has since appeared on the Today show. But writing remains a hobby for the teenaged literary sensation, who plans to major in physics in college.
14.Chloe Grace Moretz, 16
15.Hailee Steinfeld, 16
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 Responses to “The 15 Most Influential Teens of 2013”
Post a Comment