THE TOP 20 UNDER 20

0 Comments | Sunday Herald, The, Apr 23, 2006

How influential can a teenager be? How much power can you have while studying for your standard or higher grades? You would expect the answer to be, not much, but within Scotland there's scores of young people who are managing to have a meaningful impact on the adult world of sport, music, business, politics and the arts. Here, then, is fresh's completely unscientific list of the most influential teens in the land. They range from the obvious stars to the unsung heroes, but they are all united in possessing something special

1. ANDY MURRAY Who? The current British tennis number one.

Why so influential? He's made British tennis brattishly exciting again and is the rarest of things a genuine Scottish sporting superstar.

Andy is now so famous that the mere act of sacking his coach, a regular occurrence in the high-pressure sport, sent shockwaves through tennis. The 18-year-old has already won the US Open's junior title, charmed the Wimbledon faithful, verbally abused umpires and in just over a year has leapt from being ranked outside the world's top 400 to his current slot at 44. Such is the Dunblane star's influence he has managed to colonise the national institution that is Henman Hill and rename it Murray Mound. Need we go on?

2. NICOLA BENEDETTI Who? West Kilbride's finest violin-bothering export.

Why so influential? She won an Icon Of Scotland for being "an individual who symbolises Scotland's excellence in creativity, innovation and performance".

At age four she picked up her first violin. At eight, she was leading the National Children's Orchestra of Scotland. At 16, she won the BBC's prestigious Young Musician of the Year. Now aged 18, Nicola has just got started. One of the country's most visible teens, she played at the opening of the Scottish parliament, her debut album has been nominated for a Classical Brit, and she is an official Unicef ambassador. She has several more albums to record as part of her pounds-1m record deal, so don't hold your breath for a Charlotte Church-style crossover from classical into pop. Thank goodness.

3. AMAL AZZUDIN Who? The Glasgow Girl campaigning for refugee's rights Why influential? She's changed the law, you know When Amal's friend Agnessa was detained last year her life changed. Together with several other pupils from Drumchapel High School she formed The Glasgow Girls, a group of teenagers campaigning for refugee and asylum seekers rights. Agnessa was finally released, and the ordeal was captured in a BBC documentary, thrusting Amal into the spotlight. She hasn't stopped since. "Since then we've met Jack McConnell and we've been to the parliament twice, " says the 16- year-old.

"Recently an immigration officer came to our school and spoke to us. Now he said there was going to be an immigration officer just for Scotland. That's just because of us talking to him." Amal arrived from Somalia six years ago. She fled with her mum to escape the civil war. She fled with her mum to escape the civil war. Their initial application for residency was rejected, but last year it finally came through. She continues to campaign for greater acceptance of asylum seekers in Scotland. "We told Jack McConnell that these people have been here for a long time, " she says. "It was unfair for them to be forced to leave. They'd been intigrated into the community. They see this as their country. You ask them where they come from, they'll say Scotland. I say I'm from Scotland, not Somalia. This is my home."

4. HILARY LYNN Who? Meet your future prime minister.

Why so influential? She has the ear of the government.

Hilary is annoyed. "I hate the perception that young people aren't interested in politics, " says the 19-year-old. "I'm a teenager and I can say that they are." She was so annoyed by this stereotyping that she started a youth forum in her hometown of Ayr and joined the Scottish Youth Parliament four years ago. Hilary is now its secretary and chaired the judging panel at the recent Young Scot awards where she sat with Jack McConnell. Her aim in all this? To get young people's voices echoing through the corridors of power.

"The youth parliament wants to reach out to as many young people from as many backgrounds [as possible] and feed their views into the government, " she says. "You get fantastic opportunities to work with influential people." Other recent ventures for the energetic teenager include helping organise the World Youth Forum in Stirling last year ("Fantastic meeting with 500 young people from across the globe to debate international issues isn't something you get to do every day"), and tirelessly campaigning for the voting age to be lowered to 16. Oh, and as well as all this, she's doing a law degree at Stratchclyde University. Phew! So has she eyes on the First Minister's job? She laughs coyly before correcting, "Prime Minister! Who knows?"

5. KATIE LEUNG Who? Harry Potter's love interest.

Why so influential? She's set to feature in some of the biggest films of all time.

Katie Leung the person was born in Motherwell, but Katie Leung the star was made when JK Rowling decided to add a bit of romantic frisson to Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire. When she auditioned for the part of Cho Chang, the girl of Harry's dreams, she had little acting experience. But she beat 3972 other hopefuls. Katie's reason? Her Scottish accent. She'll be back in the next film, Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix.