aLost Generation
Stories from a Young Generation About Choosing Hope When Giving Up Would Be Easier
A collection of 12 stories about young people who still care, still give, and still believe tomorrow is worth fighting for.
Generation
What if our generation is not lost, but simply misunderstood?
What if we are simply tired of being misunderstood?
We are often described through crisis.
A generation shaped by climate anxiety, war, pandemics, economic pressure, digital acceleration and uncertainty.
But a generation cannot be understood through labels alone. And a person cannot be understood through a first impression.
Behind every stereotype is a story that has not yet been heard carefully enough.
There are young people who still show up. They volunteer after work. They organize when others step back. They care for communities, families, friends and strangers. They build projects, lead initiatives, start conversations and give their time to something larger than themselves.
This book is about them.
A book about the people who still choose to care
Not abstract hope. Not naïve optimism. Not the kind of hope that ignores reality.
Hope as practice. Hope as service. Hope as responsibility.
A reminder that society is still shaped by those who decide to show up.
“NOT a Lost Generation” is an independent English-language book project collecting 12 personal stories from young people who are creating hope through action.
It is also a book about looking again. About not mistaking the surface for the whole person. About not reducing a generation to the loudest stereotypes about it. About listening before judging.
It is a book for everyone who has ever wondered whether their contribution matters. And for everyone who needs to be reminded that caring is not weakness. Sometimes it is the most courageous thing we can still do.
Real stories need space.
This book is intentionally small. Not because the topic is small, but because real stories need space.
The project is looking for 12 people from different backgrounds, fields and life paths. People involved in service, community, volunteering, leadership, education, social impact, care work, entrepreneurship, activism, mentoring, cultural exchange, sustainability, inclusion or any other form of meaningful contribution.
The stories do not all need to be about social projects. They may also be about illness, sport, family responsibility, care work, migration, friendship, mental health, leaving something behind, starting again, losing direction, choosing a new path, building something quietly or learning to hope again.
The goal is not to find perfect heroes. The goal is to tell honest stories.
Stories of people who doubt themselves and continue anyway. Stories of people who give time, energy and heart. Stories of people who prove that responsibility does not begin with having power. It begins with deciding not to look away.
This might be your story if...
You give time, energy or talent to something beyond yourself.
You have gone through something that changed how you see life, hope, responsibility or yourself.
You are involved in volunteering, social impact, mentoring, education, sustainability, care, culture, inclusion, entrepreneurship or civic engagement.
You have experienced moments where giving up, leaving or staying silent would have been easier.
You have had to let go of an old dream and choose a different path.
You do not see yourself as a hero, but you know what it means to care.
You do not need to have a perfect story. You only need to have a real one.
The kind of stories this book is looking for
The book is looking for stories that are personal, specific and emotionally honest. The strongest stories are not necessarily the biggest ones.
Sometimes the most meaningful contribution happens quietly: in a club, a classroom, a hospital, a sports team, a neighborhood, a mentoring conversation, a community project, a cultural exchange, a family situation or a moment when someone decided to take responsibility.
Sometimes a story is about building something. Sometimes it is about leaving something. Sometimes it is about staying. Sometimes it is about starting again.
How to become one of the 12 stories
To make the process respectful, transparent and serious, every person who wants to be considered for the book should submit a complete application package by email.
Your Application Package
Download the Word template and answer the questions carefully.
Write 800 to 1,200 words in your own words. It does not need to be perfect. It should preserve your voice, memories, emotions and perspective.
Read it carefully, sign it and attach the signed version.
Max. 800 characters. You can also include it inside the Story Submission Form.
Only attach a portrait photo if you own the rights or have permission from the photographer or rights holder.
LinkedIn, Instagram, website, project page or other relevant links.
Download the Application Pack
The Story Submission Form includes guiding questions and a dedicated Personal Story Draft section. The draft is not the final chapter. It is raw material in your own words. If selected, your story will later be shaped into a coherent literary non-fiction chapter by the author.
Important: Submitting the application package does not guarantee selection or publication. It means that your story may be considered for the project.
What participation means
12 people will be selected for the first edition of the project.
Your words matter. They help shape the emotional core of the story.
The final chapter, however, will be written and edited by the author to create a coherent book with one narrative voice. The aim is not to replace your voice, but to preserve the meaning and emotional truth of your story in a literary form.
Submit a completed Story Submission Form.
Write a Personal Story Draft of 800 to 1,200 words.
Sign and return the Participation Agreement & Story Release.
Take part in one personal interview of approximately 45 to 60 minutes.
Allow the story to be edited into a literary non-fiction chapter.
Understand that participation is voluntary and unpaid.
Before You Share Your Story
Your story matters. That is why the expectations should be clear.
Before applying, every interested person should carefully read the Terms & Participation Notice below. Every applicant must download, complete and submit the Story Submission Form, include a Personal Story Draft of 800 to 1,200 words and sign the Participation Agreement & Story Release.
The signed agreement is required before any interview, story, personal story draft, quote, biography, name, portrait photo or personal material may be used for the book project, website, social media, press, presentations or other communication related to the project.
Participation is voluntary.
Taking part in this project is voluntary. Submitting a story or being interviewed does not create an employment, service, agency, partnership or commercial relationship.
Participation is unpaid.
Participants do not receive payment, compensation, fees, royalties, commission, revenue share, provision, reimbursement or any other financial benefit.
Selection is not guaranteed.
Submitting a story does not guarantee selection or publication. The author may decide whether, when, where and how a story or excerpts from it will be used.
Personal Story Draft.
Applicants write 800 to 1,200 words in their own words. The draft may be raw, personal and unfinished. Its purpose is to preserve voice, memories, emotions, images, doubts and perspective.
Editorial adaptation is part of the project.
Submitted material, written answers, personal story drafts and interviews may be edited, shortened, translated, adapted, rearranged and transformed into a literary non-fiction chapter.
Quotes may be used.
Selected quotes, excerpts and statements may be used in the book, landing page, social media, newsletters, press materials, presentations, readings, interviews, book trailers and marketing.
Participants grant usage rights.
Selected participants grant broad, worldwide, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable, irrevocable and perpetual usage rights to their contribution, to the extent legally permissible.
No full editorial control.
Participants may review factual details before publication. This does not grant full editorial control, approval rights or veto rights over the final text, title, design or marketing material.
Truthfulness and third-party rights.
Participants confirm that the information they provide is truthful to the best of their knowledge and does not knowingly infringe copyright, privacy rights, confidentiality obligations or third-party rights.
Sensitive information.
Participants should avoid submitting sensitive personal information about themselves or others unless they explicitly want this information to be considered and understand the consequences.
Independent project.
This is an independent book project by Marlow D. Guttmann. It is not an official publication of Rotary, Rotaract or any related organization unless explicitly stated.
Listening before judging.
The project is built on the belief that people should not be reduced to labels. Every story is an attempt to look beyond the first impression and understand what a person carries.
Acknowledgement: By submitting the application package, applicants confirm that they have visited this page, read the Terms & Participation Notice, completed the Story Submission Form, included their Personal Story Draft and signed the Participation Agreement & Story Release.
The questions behind the book
Every story in the book will be shaped by the same central question: What made you decide to still care?
01Who are you beyond your title, role or project?
A question about identity before achievement. The book is interested in people, not just CVs.
02When did you first realize that you wanted to contribute to something larger than yourself?
This helps identify the beginning of the story and the personal moment behind the commitment.
03Was there a moment when giving up, looking away or staying silent would have been easier?
The strongest stories often begin where comfort ends.
04What made you decide to still care?
The core question of the book. It reveals the emotional reason behind the contribution.
05What do you do today, and why does it matter to you?
This connects personal motivation to concrete action.
06What is the work behind your contribution that people usually do not see?
Real responsibility often lives in hidden effort.
07What has your commitment cost you personally?
Time, energy, comfort, relationships, doubts or something else. The book wants honest stories, not perfect ones.
08Where have you doubted yourself?
Doubt makes a story human.
09What keeps you going when progress feels slow?
A question about endurance, resilience and meaning.
10What do you think older generations misunderstand about young people today?
This creates an intergenerational bridge.
11What do you wish more people understood about responsibility, hope and giving back?
A question about values and perspective.
12What would you say to someone from your generation who feels powerless right now?
Every story should leave behind something useful for someone else.
Project timeline
Young people can apply or nominate someone.
Applicants download the Story Submission Form and the Participation Agreement & Story Release.
Applicants write 800 to 1,200 words in their own words.
Applicants send the completed Story Submission Form, Personal Story Draft and signed Participation Agreement & Story Release by email.
A curated selection of 12 people will be invited.
Each selected person takes part in a personal interview.
Each story is turned into a literary non-fiction chapter by the author.
Participants may review factual details before publication.
The final collection is published as a compact English-language book.
Maybe we are not lost. Maybe we are still learning how to hope out loud.
A generation should not be judged only by its fears, exhaustion or uncertainty. It should also be seen through the people who still show up.
12 stories will be selected.