The Friends of the University of Missouri Libraries is proud to announce the winners of the 2025 Robert J. Stuckey Essay Contest. The first-place winner will be awarded a $2,000 scholarship, and the second-place winner will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship. Honorable mentions receive $100 each.
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The first-place winner is Josey Whitaker of Harrisburg R-VIII in Harrisburg, for her essay entitled “The Narrative on Life.” The second-place winner is Maggie Cima of Visitation Academy in St. Louis, for her essay entitled “A Planet of Our Own.” Each teacher of these students, Jennie Simpson and Susan Shortt, will also receive a $250 award.

Honorable Mentions in this year’s contest include John Yu’s essay, “From Big Cats to Bigger Questions,” and Sonia Kulkarni’s “Death by a Word.” Yu is a student at Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, and Kulkarni attends John Burroughs High School in Town & Country.

Each year, the essay contest is open to Missouri High School students in grades 9-12, and only one entry is accepted from each school. Each entry must address one or more aspects of books or reading. Common student topics for essays include literary analyses, accounts of personal experiences, and fictional short stories. Each essay should be originally composed by the student without assistance and should not have been submitted to any previous contest or have been previously published.

The Friends of the Libraries have been affiliated with the University Libraries and the University of Missouri since 1960. The Friends have administered the Robert J. Stuckey Essay Contest for the University for the past several years. The late Robert J. Stuckey was a member of the 1963 junior class of Farmington High School and had planned to attend college. He was vitally interested in current events and enjoyed reading. This annual contest is presented in memory of him.

Thank you to this year’s Stuckey Essay judges, who are all a part of our Friends of the University of Missouri Libraries council. Judges Steve Weinberg, Anne Edwards, Jody Feldman, Katie Harris, and Laurie Tourtellot had their work cut out for them with 17 great essay submissions.