Oscar Wilde once villainized language, writing, “Mere words! How terrible they were!” Of course, he contradicted himself, fawning over his beloved craft and adding, “…yet what a subtle magic there was in them!” I agree—as an avid writer and prospective English major myself, it’s almost magical how words facilitate wonder.
Yet during my sophomore year, my classmates bemoaned that English class was boring. The “magical” ability of words to facilitate awe had vanished—a longtime friend and I decided it was important to address this disengagement from the humanities early, at young ages.
Many late night calls and hundreds of hurried texts later, we decided upon an incipient plan: to host monthly writing competitions for elementary and middle school students. And so, the Future Scholar Foundation (FSF) was born.
My friend and I began locally, engaging schools and community organizations to spread the word. With teachers interested in combining their competitions with their literary curriculum, we discussed FSF’s writing prompts. And—through workshops at nearby libraries—I met the faces behind the stories.
Before long, news about FSF’s one-on-one coaching programs and feedback services had spread—students from Taiwan, Lagos, and Bulgaria were joining the FSF community. By directing each student’s focus to the process of improvement over simply writing to win, I hoped to rekindle their joy of honing boundless creativity. Seeing returning writers’ work improve each month has brought me immense satisfaction from helping inspire hundreds of students to not just begin but sustain creative writing.
“Before I discovered the Future Scholar Foundation community, writing for me was a lot of really repetitive essays…but now I feel much more confident in [my words] and am [even] beginning to think of myself as a writer,” said a 7th grade FSF student from Singapore.
To date, the FSF’s competitions have received over 4,000 submissions from 40 US States and 39 countries; I hope my FSF story can inspire other students who have noticed a problem in their communities to take action.
To all current high school students: if you want to make a meaningful impact in your community, but feel overwhelmed by it all, know that you aren’t alone. I felt that way when starting the FSF too. Take that first step towards making the world a better place—don’t worry about the results and ignore the ‘what-ifs’. You never know the positive change you can make if you just start.
Through the FSF, I’ve been able to witness the written word’s power—not just on paper, but in lives and communities. I am determined to continue dreaming in prose and in passion, transforming Wilde’s subtle magic into the spark of many creative futures.
To learn more about the FSF and its mission, visit futurescholarfoundation.org or connect with Nathaniel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathaniel-tok.
