Ambitious Stories Book Scholarship

In partnership with The Future of Us, Ambitious Stories, LLC is now opening submissions for their first book scholarship for high school seniors of Kansas City planning to attend college in the fall semester of 2022. With a mission to uplift often unheard voices from the Midwest, especially Kansas City, Ambitious Stories wants to focus on young ambitious storytellers of prose and poetry.

The overarching theme for the Ambitious Stories Book Scholarship is as follows: This is Kansas City. 

The book scholarship is a two-part process: first, a short personal essay and creative writing portfolio to be submitted to ambitiousstoriesllc@gmail.com. Details listed below. After the deadline on Tuesday, May 31, candidates will be chosen to advance to an interview round. The final scholarship recipient will be chosen based on the quality of their submission and interview.
Even though submissions do not have to reflect work published by Ambitious Stories, candidates can still gain more insight about the company and what they do by checking out the Ambitious Stories website at www.ambitiousstoriesllc.com and following them on Facebook and Instagram @AmbitiousStoriesLLC.

DEADLINEThe deadline is Tuesday, May 31, 2022. Please email your entry to ambitiousstoriesllc@gmail.com.

ELIGIBILITYApplicants must meet the following requirements to apply for the Ambitious Stories Book Scholarship:

• Current high school senior or college freshman
  
• Reside in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area
  
• Cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher 
  

Though we do encourage creating something specifically for this application, we do accept existing work as long as it is yours. Plagiarism (of any degree) is not allowed and will result in immediate disqualification. Previously published work will be accepted as long as the original publication is cited.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTSA complete scholarship application consists of:

• A 500-word personal essay detailing what the applicant is most ambitious about and why.
  
• A creative writing portfolio that includes the scholarship theme and consists of one short story or novel excerpt (no more than 4000 words or 12 pages), or 3 to 4 poems (one poem per page).
  
• Applicants must include the scholarship theme (This is Kansas City) in some form or fashion in their creative writing portfolio. The theme inclusion could be a story set in Kansas City, a quote pertaining to Kansas City, or even a notable Kansas City figure. This is entirely up to personal interpretation.
  

SUBMISSION FORMATTINGPlease put the entire submission in a single document (doc, docx, or pdf) and format the personal essay and creative writing portfolio in Times New Roman, 12pt Font, Double Spaced.
Include name, address, phone, grade level or college year, and the name of the high school or college/university at which the applicant is attending in the header/footer of the attached Word document. Also, please insert page numbers.

SELECTION PROCESSThe Ambitious Stories Scholarship Committee includes Ambitious Stories Founder & CEO, Ralvell Rogers II as well as writers and editors who have been published or worked for renowned literary magazines and publishing companies. The TFOU staff will also be reviewing applications..
All application materials must be submitted by the Tuesday, May 31 deadline noted on TFOU’s website and scholarship application materials. No deadline exceptions will be granted.
The Selection Process for the Ambitious Stories Book Scholarship includes multiple rounds of review for each respective portfolio. Each application is carefully reviewed by the AS Scholarship Committee. Applicants are measured based on the merit, integrity, originality and creativity of their written work as well as their ability to integrate the scholarship’s theme in unique ways.

AWARDS & DISBURSEMENT POLICYEven though we cannot promise that your piece will be published with Ambitious Stories, this process will give applicants the opportunity to receive written feedback from editors, which includes line comments, praise and suggestions. Additionally, applicants will be able to take advantage of the opportunity to network with editors and other writers in literary communities in Kansas City and beyond.
Scholarship award recipients must provide a photograph to promote the Scholarship Program and each awardee. Award recipients will be acknowledged on TFOU’s and AS’s websites. The winner will also receive Ambitious merchandise .
The Scholarship Committee will decide to grant the Book Scholarship, in which case funds must be used to purchase books. Once a Book Scholarship recipient provides proof of enrollment to an accredited college or university where the awardee is enrolled in an undergraduate academic program, funds will be mailed via check directly to the college or university for disbursement to the student.
All scholarship award funds must be disbursed in full in the same school year that the award is granted.

Ralvell Rogers II
When Ralvell founded Ambitious Stories during the summer of 2020, he had a vision to support and uplift ambitious storytellers and their stories that are often overlooked by the mainstream. Helmed from, Ralvell looks forward to pushing the publishing industry to recognize those lost voices, especially those from the midwest and the Heart of America. As an ambitious storyteller himself, Ralvell focuses on realistic fiction and reflective and experimental poetry. His writing has been published and can be found in many literary and online journals including River City Poetry, Heartland, Rigorous, Flinthills Review, MockingHeart Review, Genre: Urban Arts, and Cathexis Northwest Press.

Ambitious Stories, LLC
Founded in 2020, Ambitious Stories, LLC is a Kansas City-based publishing company that focuses on often unheard, yet riveting and inspiring creative works from The Heart. Ambitious Stories has published two books including The Kansas City Boys Choir: Providing Hope For Tomorrow in collaboration with The Kansas City Boys Choir and Improvise by Kevin Rabas.