Our Summer Reading Contest is our longest-running challenge and perhaps our simplest: To participate, all you have to do is answer the question, What got your attention in The Times this week?
Over the course of 10 weeks this year, we received 10,144 answers to that question from teenagers around the world. To help us read them all, we invited volunteers from the Times newsroom and across the company. As we judged the final batch of 1,456 entries this week, we asked if any of the volunteers would like to comment on what they noticed as they read. Here is what they had to say.
Judy Wang, who is Executive Director of Employee Storytelling & Content Strategy, was especially taken with students’ “curious and flexible minds”:
What impressed me most was watching these students reflect on not only what they’ve read, but also how they think. It was inspiring to see them eagerly confront narratives that made them question how they process facts — whether about free speech, college rankings or the art of rejection — and try to understand the world. I was seriously blown away by the curious and flexible minds on display here, and by their gorgeous prose too!
Mathilde Tanon, a data privacy manager, noted how deeply young people responded to frightening news about the state of the world:
It must be really hard to be a teenager in 2023. Wildfires, climate change, wars and the detriments of social media were by far the most discussed topics in the essays I have reviewed. Some submissions expressed a deep sense of doom and guilt that the writers are experiencing regarding the state of our world. While this was, at times, disheartening, it also shows that this generation is passionate about these issues, and willing to do whatever is necessary to improve the situation. The empathy and self-awareness shown by the students serve as an example for the older generations, who should act responsibly and fix past mistakes to enable younger generations to thrive, and, most importantly, to never lose hope.
Chamara Adams, who is an operations manager, told us that some teen writing inspired debate with her friends:
I was not expecting such insightful thoughts and connections. Some of the essays showed me different perspectives, had me see a topic in a new light and sparked a debate or two with my friends. I am so impressed by these students and so glad I was able to get a glimpse into their worlds through their thoughts and opinions.
And Nina Feinberg, who is a lead product designer for The Times, summed up the most common response we get from our judges, year after year:
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I was genuinely wowed by the quality of the entries and the breadth of the experiences from students around the globe.
Thank you to everyone who participated, this week and every week, and congratulations to our Week 10 winner, Ruby N., as well as to the runners-up and honorable mentions we honor below.
We’ll be back with a new and updated version of this contest for Summer 2024. But while you’re waiting, don’t forget that you can read the work of all of our winners since 2017 in this column.
