Every day, 2.2 billion people around the world struggle to access clean water. However, Irvington sophomore Brill Yunt’s newly published innovative and groundbreaking WIP Policy paper offers a foolproof solution that can instantaneously eradicate this global issue.

When Brill Yunt started his sophomore year, he said, he was “just an average student who was dreading the WIP (World Issues Project) benchmark.” Never in his wildest dreams did he think he could propose a policy with such profound benefits. His paper, titled “Just Get Water,” takes a revolutionary perspective; it discards abstract, theoretical plans and really examines the issue on the most basic level. Rather than employing the usual strategies and plans researchers have developed over the years to find sources of clean water, this paper offers a real solution that can be implemented in an instant.

We at the IHS Voice sat down with this extraordinary prodigy to discuss what inspired him to come up with this revolutionary policy in his research paper.

“When I was researching for my source checks, I was baffled by all this information saying you need a lot of resources to make clean water available,” said Brill Yunt. “So I asked, ‘why don’t these people just like, get water?’”

Many scientific journals and nonprofit organizations commended the policy paper in official statements released in the past week. We interviewed researchers working to address water scarcity, and policy analysts in nonprofits; many revealed that they were totally perplexed at how this ingenious idea was never explored before. This Monday, the United Nations agency known as UN Water announced they would be presenting Brill Yunt with the prestigious “Youth Researcher of the Century” award, for Brill Yunt’s brilliant contributions toward solving a major global issue.

Brill Yunt expressed deep regret over making 2 MLA citation errors in his Policy Paper, for which he received a B+ from his English teacher. However, the student says what matters in the end is that he was able to make a difference in the world, and not just write research papers that have no real-world impact.

“Of course, I’m really happy to be awarded by UN Water for solving an issue because that’s what WIP and the benchmarks are really about,” said Brill Yunt. “Instead of just sitting in a classroom and suggesting theoretical ideas in a Socratic or a debate, the real purpose of WIP is letting high school students solve complex, multifaceted global issues with multiple causal factors, even though we only have a few months to research and no previous experience with the issue.”