As part of our mission to uplift powerful stories and open doors for resilient youth nationwide, SMJ partners with educational institutions (high schools, youth shelters, and community programs) for our annual spring writing competition. Each organization's winners will publish their work on the Social Mobility Journal, and all submissions receive high-quality edits from SMJ's top-tier storytellers.
Writing Submission Deadline:
April 17, 2026
Instructions:
-Prompt: Connect the dots between the chapters of your story. Tell us what makes you resilient. (500-600 words)
- Make your journal entry personal, analytical, or both, as long as it is nonfiction.
- You may use A.I. to help edit, but the story must be written by you.
-Submit your writing at the appropriate link above.
- Powerful stories will advance to a final round of edits and publishing.
- It doesn't have to be perfect, we want to hear your voice.
Writers are evaluated by:
1. Creative Storytelling
2. Critical Thinking
3 Resilience
Winners receive:
1. The opportunity to publish personal stories or research on SMJ
2. Access to a national network of investigative journalists
3. A mystery surprise!
DISCLAIMER:
It is SMJ's highest priority to protect the privacy of our writers, thus, writers may choose to remain anonymous (under a pseudonym or first name) or publish their work with their real name. No identifying information beyond the student's name will be published. Writers may request to withdraw their work from SMJ at any point by submitting the Request for Entry Withdrawl Form.