Winner
Viviana Thumm, 15, from Bradenton, Fla., chose an article on cuts to SNAP benefits, part of the domestic policy bill President Trump signed into law on July 4, and wrote:
The article “What Are SNAP Benefits and How Will They Change?” brought back childhood memories I thought I’d forgotten. I remember now. The checkout lines, my mom hissing in my ear, “Swipe the card faster.” I was too young to understand what shame was, but my mom did, and I felt it.
We were on food stamps for most of my childhood. It wasn’t because we were lazy, like politicians claim to excuse these cuts, but because rent was high, her job as a middle-school teacher didn’t pay enough, and we chose between groceries or gas. SNAP wasn’t a handout, it was the difference between starvation or hunger. So when I read that our elected officials are trying to cut access, it was personal.
One line in the article that stood out to me was: “Republicans say the program discourages people from working.” Tell that to my mother, who worked full-time and still had to rely on SNAP to feed her daughter something other than ramen. Or to every other parent who whipped something up from a food bank box, saying “It’s your favorite,” when it wasn’t.
This article reminded me how easy it is to demonize the poor when you’ve never stood in their shoes, or in their line at Dollar Tree. It reminded me that policy matters. People like me grew up knowing what hunger feels like, and now we sit helplessly watching powerful people debate whether we ever needed help at all.
I chose this article because it wasn’t just news to me, it was my life, and I’m not done standing up for people who still live it.
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Chaebeom Lim on “If Only My Father Could Choose to Deny the Holocaust Ever Happened”
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Crystal W. on “Alysa Liu Left Figure Skating at 16. Now She’s Back and in Position for a Major Win”
Dana A. on “Don’t Throw Your Dictionary Away”
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Dingkai W. on “Chinese Students Flocked to Central Illinois. Their Food Followed.”
Elizabeth W. on “Always Late? Blame Your Time Personality.”
Evalyn on “Their Superpower? Holding Things.”
Hadley M. on “How to Pick Up the Local Language Before You Go”
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Hanlin S. on “I Hate, Therefore I Am”
Hannah L. on “‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Took 7 Years to Make but a Lifetime of Experience”
Hyunseo K. on “Should I Be Worried About Arsenic in Rice?”
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Jeremy P. on “Don’t Throw Your Dictionary Away”
Jian C. on “Eight Arms to Taste Your Microbiome”
Jieni T. on “If Only My Father Could Choose to Deny the Holocaust Ever Happened”
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Krystal on “There’s a Name for What Trump is Doing. Juan Crow.”
Li Ziyue on “The Coldplay Concert Shame Is Something to Celebrate”
Maya Y. on “Sketched Out: An Illustrator Confronts His Fears About A.I. Art”
Mia T. on “Listen to ‘Hamlet.’ Feel Better.”
Ryan P. on “How an M&M Sparked the Search for the Next Perfect Peanut”
Samantha S. on “This Is Why America Needs Public Media”
Sarah D. on “I Hate, Therefore I Am”
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Selene Li on “Finding Beauty at Maximum Discount”
Sophie Ding on “Videos From the Amazon Reveal an Unexpected Animal Friendship”
Teo C. on “Should I Be Worried About Arsenic in Rice?”
Youlan Li on “How Do You Self-Identify? For Many Americans, Checking a Box Won’t Do.”
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