Now make your choice

From Joan of Arc to Mark Zuckerberg, teenagers have achieved remarkable things. This year we celebrate four young people doing the same.

The girl trying to become the next Serena Williams Coco Gauff was six when she started playing tennis, inspired by Serena Williams. At 14 she became the No.1 junior women's tennis player, and at 15 qualified for WimbledonAn international tennis tournament held in London every year..

Since then, Coco has reached the late stages of the majors¹ several times. This year, at the age of 19, she won the US Open - the first American teenager to triumph at the tournament since Serena Williams.

The boy who wants to save the oceans Seven years ago, Haaziq Kazi from Pune, Western India, had an idea while washing his hands. After watching documentaries about ocean plastic pollution,² he wondered if he could design a boat that cleared rubbish the way that water drained down the sink.

Now aged 17, Haaziq has given multiple TED talksTalks by expert speakers or influential people, which are then uploaded to the internet so people can view them for free. TED conferences is a non-profit organisation. , addressed a United NationsAn international organisation focused on keeping peace. Its refugee agency, the UNHCR, aims to assist refugees around the world. forum and launched an organisation teaching young people about the plastic crisis in oceans. "They tell us kids not to daydream," he says. "But I'm not one to listen."

The girl teaching children to understand AI Neha Shukla is 18, but she's already internedAn internship is a form of work experience taken by students or people who want to gain skills in a new type of work. with NasaThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration, responsible for the US space programme. and delivered workshops to over 70,000 students. She has also written bestselling books that encourage young women to enjoy STEMScience, technology, engineering and maths. STEM is a term used to group these academic disciplines.  subjects³ and teach children about AIA computer programme that has been designed to think. . She's even an inventor.

Neha's first invention came during the Covid-19 pandemic: a wearable social distancing device. Next, she built an app to combat homelessness in her home state of PennsylvaniaA US state with a population of nearly 13 million. . In the future, she wants to "develop technology for social... and fight for positive change".

The girl educating teenagers about social media At the age of 13, Jimin Lee founded SELFidence, a charity supporting young people's mental health in South Korea. Through social media campaigns, it teaches them about subjects like toxic productivity and spending too much time online.            

Now aged 16, Lee has been appointed the first youth ambassadorSomebody who represents an organisation or country. for the Korean health ministry and published research on mental health. "You belong in this world," she explains. "That's what inspired me to found SELFidence."

Choose which of these impressive young people is your teenage of 2023. Come back tomorrow to see who has won.