EXTRAORDINARY YOUTH

We would like to take today's post to commend and honor some extremely talented and hard working teenagers of our nation.



Brryan Jackson

Brryan Jackson is an incredible teenager who has been living with the affliction of AIDS since age 5 after his father intentionally passed it along in an attempt to get out of paying child support. Schools didn't want to accept him, students couldn't accept him, and he got into a great deal many fights. However, now Jackson, 18, is the head of his own foundation (Hope is Vital - HIV) which raises awareness and understanding/compassion for people suffering from HIV/AIDS.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31129553/


Tudor Dominik Maican

Tudor Dominik Maican is a musical genius. At 21 years old, he has already written gorgeous operas, a stunning requiem, and a couple of breathtaking symphonies to boot. A current student at Indiana University, Maican travels to New York City (where he has studied at Juilliard since very young) every weekend and was recently named Composer in Residence Fellow at Dumbarton Concerts in 2006, a great feat for any composer, especially a 21-year-old. Dominik has won many awards and been featured on NPR's All Things Considered. Genius, genius, genius!!!
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11254902


Caroline Lazar

Caroline Lazar, 16, is a stunning writer, possessing a literary power that few attain (especially at her young age). A Connecticut student, Lazar has already won several awards for her prose, as well as a writing contract with the publishing house of literature titan Dave Eggers, McSweeney's Internet Tendency. This contract garnered her a spot as the youngest writer in the history of the site, which is a wonderful feat. While information on this wunderkind is some what more difficult to find, what we DO know is that her personal essays and poetry (which can be seen at http://mcsweeneys.net/links/ohmygawd/) are brilliant, frank, humorous, and nothing short of genius.


Congratulations to our honored teenagers!