Ambition is the name of the game for an aspirant, a young person who sets her sights on rising to the top in her chosen field.
Every young person who wishes on a star for fame and fortune is an aspirant. Used mostly as a noun, the word also works as an adjective — describing the desire to move up the corporate ladder, to receive national recognition for saving the world, or to achieve success on the Broadway stage — whatever one aspires to: "The aspirant dancer had to start her career as an understudy to the prima ballerina."
