NEW YORK: TIME magazine has released their annual list of the 30 most influential teens, and 2016’s list.
These 30 teens were deemed eligible for one of the most prestigious honours they can receive as a young person. They all come from totally different backgrounds and fields, and they all have numerous honours and achievements. TIME magazine considered those feats, as well as their “global impact through social media and overall ability to drive news.”
This year’s list of game-changing teenagers spanned young athletes, entrepreneurs, activists, and entertainers — all of whom have gotten people talking, for the better. To narrow down their list of top teenagers, Time considers the person’s accomplishments, social media impact, and influence in driving news.
The list also has two Pakistanis on it — Sumail Hassan and Malala Yousafzai. Malala has been on the list for three consecutive years now. However, this is the first time Sumail Hassan has made it to the list. The Pakistani genius is a DOTA 2 champion and has won millions of dollars at a young age. At the age of seven, Sumail Hassan sold his bike for a cheap price in order to get some change to play video games at an Internet café.
“It was the bad move,” says Hassan, with a laugh. But ten years later, Hassan become the youngest person ever to earn $1 million playing competitive video games, making him a phenomenon in the rapidly growing world of “e-sports.” (Deloitte estimates competitive-gaming revenues will hit $500 million this year, and high-profile investors include Alex Rodriguez and Shaquille O’Neal.)
Hassan’s game of choice is Dota 2, in which experts say he’s a Michael Jordan-like figure with his skills. But despite his rising profile, he still puts family first. Hassan recently used some of his prize money—now at $2.3 million and counting—to buy a house for his parents and five siblings, with whom he moved to the US in 2014.
Malala came under the international spotlight after ‘Taliban’ attacked her in Swat for campaigning for girls’ education. She received a bullet injury to her head but successfully recovered after undergoing a surgery in Britain. At seventeen, Malala became the youngest Nobel laureate ever. At a young age, she also co-founded the Malala Fund to secure girls the right to a minimum of 12 years of quality schooling.
Now Malala, once dubbed “the most famous teenager in the world,” is continuing her human rights activism by urging world leaders to set aside $1.4 billion this year toward educating young refugees: “The thought that they won’t be able to go to school in their whole life is completely shocking and I cannot accept it.”
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