Comment & Win 2025: Round 2 Commenters Respond Thoughtfully to Their Peers

Talk about setting the tone. A huge Wharton Global Youth shoutout to Anurag M. from India for kicking off our 2025 Comment and Win Competition “Let’s Discuss” round on July 7 with flair and finesse.

Embracing the round’s mission of responding thoughtfully to other students’ comments, Anurag dropped nine replies to different peers during the first day of Round 2, each sincere and encouraging. In a round that sparks interaction about business ideas, we felt the humanity – not only in Anurag’s work designing electric mobility tools for informal laborers in India, but also in his crisp and empathetic words to fellow commenters.

And it only got better from there. In the three weeks that followed, high school students posted more than 320 total responsive comments from 160 unique commenters on some 70 Wharton Global Youth articles, until Round 2 ended at midnight Eastern time on July 25. It was an active continuation of Summer 2025 commenting, which began with the start of Round 1 on June 16 in our annual competition that invites high school students to comment on Wharton Global Youth business content.

Sledgehammer and Sherlock Holmes

We look forward to this annual C&W discussion cycle not only because of its synergistic vibe, but also because commenters help honor the amazing ideas emerging from the pages of our Comment & Win contest, while also bringing fresh energy to poignant posts and bright sentiments.

It all unfolds inside a culture of camaraderie. You celebrated each other, refreshing to read in a divisive world — like Harini K. to Sanjana: “I applaud your efforts and encourage you to keep spreading your wisdom to those in your community and beyond!” And Ayesha to Maja: “The first line of your comment hit me like a sledgehammer, and the rest wasn’t much gentler.”

The “Let’s Discuss” round was also a source of innovation and inspiration, as expressed by Jasmeet from Punjab: “Young people like Olivia [Ospina-Lerner] inspire me to move from thinking to doing.”

Check out how Yijia C., a top commenter in Round 1, did just that by interviewing Hattie from the Wimbledon tennis tournament to find out the fate of their old tennis balls (after hearing our podcast about Serve2Sustain). More than 1,000 balls become restaurant sound barriers – so cool! And Pranav N. brought the innovative thinking in response to Muhammad’s posted plea for perfume inspiration – so good!

Whether you were talking about Startup Tok, hyper-dopamine content, green guru projects, kalathappam, the French etymology of entrepreneurship, or a 6-year-old rescue bird named Lemon, our editorial team discovered wisdom in your musings. Attention Neil S., your devoted thread of responders suggests that you should trademark the phrase “Sherlock Holmes with spreadsheets.”

Celebrating Round 2 Responders

With that, let’s honor the Round 2 champs who responded especially thoughtfully to our community of Global Youth commenters.

First top respondent and response: Congratulations to Brian C., 16 and a student at Stuyvesant High School in New York, U.S., for his compelling response to Megan T. on the article, AI and the Human Brain: Holding On to Our Humanity. We agreed, Brian, that Megan’s reflections on being humane and human were indeed poetic – and we championed how you added rich context and dimension to her original argument. Megan’s comment truly inspired you to go deep on what makes us human and to cleverly answer the call for a new paradigm for AI presented in the article. We felt the humanity here – and appreciated your critical thinking.

Second top respondent and response: Congratulations to Hrithik M., 15 and a student at Brighton College Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. Hrithik dazzled our evaluators with multiple exchanges this round; however, we especially appreciated his reply to Landon C. on the article, An AI Startup Takes Us Inside the Business of Climate Resilience. Hrithik’s innovation game was strong as he explored the ways that Landon might build upon his idea to use AI to forecast safe swimming days. Might these two collaborate on turning environmental monitoring into community impact through tech? Hrithik’s astute questions exposed the possibilities.

Third top respondent and response: Congratulations to Inzhu B., 15 and a high school student from Kazakhstan, for her strong response to Lucia X.’s comment on the article, How Will You Use Technology to Shape Our Future? Inzhu’s insightful reply respectfully challenged one commenter’s perspective on ethics and tech, while also advancing the ideas around the article. It was simple, clearly expressed, and powerful in its message: “Progress must walk beside ethics, not behind it.” Sounds like fodder for a robust debate, and Inzhu has shaped a persuasive rebuttal.

Fourth top respondent and response: AI is definitely dominating our commenting threads these days – but can we let it have the last word? (all three winners are AI-adjacent!). So, congratulations to Bailey C., 17 and a student at Guilford Park High School in Maryland, U.S. for her reply to Maryam A. on Future Business Leaders: Are You Ready to Embrace Your Fresh-start Moment? Maryam’s comment prompted several notable responses about achievement and personal connection. Bailey’s tone, however, was especially conversational and felt like a personal commentary on Maryam’s efforts to embrace “the hard parts of growth with honesty and courage.” It was genuine, direct and supportive.

Worldview

And with that, we close out Round 2, 2025. Our winners will receive e-books from Wharton School Press. Round 3 storytelling comments are due by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on August 15.

Commenters’ persistent curiosity, expressed through answers to probing questions and endless new questions to ponder, was a highlight of this round.

We’ll leave you with a thought from Brandon H., in response to Jiwon on the Global Youth article, Author John Green Stops by the Wharton School to Talk About Life, Creativity and Compassion: “In the context of the business world, new ideas are still cherished and nurtured…But what will happen to our world if the next generation of creative and pioneering minds is squashed rather than nurtured?” Your comments confirm that connection and creative thought matter.