Future of Maine Ambition Scholarships
Questions & Answers

What is ambition? Lots of students want to become the next Cooper Flagg or Taylor Swift, but we all know it is about much more than talent. It is about hard work and persistence and really wanting it. It is about drive.

Ambition: a strong desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination and hard work.

But this looks like a lot of work. Yes, that may be right, but you will not have a lot of success in life without a lot of work. That hard work, that effort, and that determination to stick to it is what will determine your success in the future. It is a habit you can develop, particularly if you are pursuing something that really interests you. You should also keep in mind that you have an opportunity to earn a significant amount of money. If you started in third grade, you could earn as much as $5500, and perhaps more, with additional support from your mentor. And furthermore, if you spend nine years pursuing your interest in a particular field, and you do it well, the truth is that you will have a very good chance of getting a job in that career. So, you will have to decide whether or not you think the extra effort will be worth it. This is not the lottery. You don’t submit an application and hope to get lucky. The more work you put into it, the more likely it is that you will receive a scholarship.

What if my teacher wants me to do an Aspirations Scholarship with the rest of the class? You should do that. Hopefully, your teacher will let you complete an Ambition Scholarship instead, but in any case, there should be a lot of overlap. You could use all of your Aspirations Scholarship application in your Ambition Scholarship application. You can do both in one year. But, if you are pursuing an Ambition Scholarship each year, make sure you do that. An Aspiration Scholarship does not replace an Ambition Scholarship.

What are my chances of earning an Ambition Scholarship? They are very good. This is not a writing contest. You are not really competing against others. If you do a really good job, you are very likely to earn a scholarship. How do you know if you are doing a good job? I encourage you to contact me and/or get advice from your mentor all along the way. If your application is not as strong as we would like it to be, we can tell you ahead of time, and you can make improvements so that you can be quite certain that it will earn a scholarship when you submit the application. Furthermore, you might submit your application and the committee might not think it is good enough to earn a scholarship, and they might give your more time to improve it before the next deadline.

What is this about mentors? We want you to work with someone on this – to get some advice along the way from an adult. That mentor will be able to tell you whether your application is likely to earn a scholarship. You can ask a local adult/mentor to help you. You can also ask Maine College Circle for a mentor. Ideally, you would do both. The Maine College Circle mentor is likely to be remote, and it is possible that they will be providing some of the funding for your scholarship. Significantly, if you work hard over the years on your Ambition Scholarships and you communicate well with your Maine College Circle mentor, that mentor may offer you additional scholarship funding for you to continue your education after high school.

What do I do if I have questions? Send me an email at bstuart@mainecollegecircle.org. and ask. We want to see you succeed. We want to help you earn these scholarships. So, ask for help from us.

I am still confused. Could you give me an example? Let's say you like art and you're good at it and you like the idea of becoming an artist or maybe an art teacher when you get older. In third grade, you could write an Aspirations Scholarship about your goals of becoming an artist. In fourth grade, you could do an Ambition Scholarship, write a little more about your aspirations to become an artist, identify a college you could go to to study art, and include some artwork in your application. In subsequent years, you could write more about your aspirations, include more artwork, research and write about your favorite artist, interview your art teacher, interview a professional artist, maybe teach an art lesson two young students in your school. It will take some thought about how you can upgrade your application each year. We want you do do that thinking, but we encourage you to get help from others.

Do I have to start in third grade? No, but the earlier you start, the more you can earn. You do need to earn an Aspirations Scholarship first which is for students in grades 3 - 6 at participating schools.

When are the applications due? November 1 or May 1. Yes, that is a very different schedule than the Aspiration Scholarships which are often do in the winter or spring. Working on your Ambition Scholarship application could be a fun summer project for you.

Will I be recognized at a scholarship ceremony? Yes. You will be recognized at the Aspirations Scholarship ceremonies each year through sixth grade, and at other school ceremonies after that.

How do I submit my application? You can do it by mail or by email, or perhaps through Google Docs. The mailing address is: Maine College Circle, PO Box 1112, Ellsworth, Maine, 04605. The email is: bstuart@mainecollegecircle.org.

Bob Stuart