Muhammad Ali, Aerospace Engineer and Scholarship Winner

Open Doors

After a long series of rejections despite his excellent grades and obvious passion, engineering student Muhammad Ali started to believe he wouldn’t be able to go to college at all, let alone earn any scholarship money to fund it. But with some encouragement from his family and the help of Scholarships.com, Ali’s efforts paid off— in the form of over $40,000 towards his schooling.

“As time progresses, I appreciate it even more and more,” said Ali, now a freshman at the University of Central Florida. Thanks to the competitive Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship, his education in aerospace engineering is ready for liftoff.

The spark for Ali’s career in STEM came about when he was in the fourth grade. He received a letter inviting him to join Odyssey of the Mind, an international problem-solving competition for students from third grade to college level. Given the program’s length and intensity, Ali wasn’t sure about participating.

“I changed what I wanted to do every single day,” he explained. His mother had always encouraged him to follow all his interests, supporting him in countless activities; as a result, he was unsure about settling on just one thing. But even though committing to Odyssey of the Mind would limit Ali’s involvement in other programs, his mother sensed that the opportunity would be worthwhile.

“I knew that a scholarship would open up so many doors,” said Ali. Thankfully, he had a good idea of where to start looking for one: “A lot of people at my school sung the praises of Scholarships.com, and I’m glad they did.”

“She really pushed me to join it, and I’m really glad I did,” Ali said, “because I think that’s one of the things that pushed me to become an engineer.”

He loved the program. In Odyssey of the Mind competitions, Ali combined art and engineering to solve complex problems; from writing play scripts to building motors, a constant flow of new activities and challenges to jump into kept his interest throughout his primary schooling. By seventh grade, Ali and his Odyssey team were hopeful for their first win.

“We had put in a lot of effort. It was the best team I had ever been on.” Ali said. But they still didn’t place. “So from then on, I made the decision that I needed to know more.”

“When it was time to go to high school, I saw that there was this engineering school, NeoCity Academy… I applied to go there so I could really learn those engineering skills that had been holding me back,” he explained— and his high school career at NeoCity was everything he’d hoped for.

At NeoCity, Ali enrolled in as many extracurriculars as he could, going so far as to create a spreadsheet of every club at the school to maximize his attendance. At the same time, he catered his studies to support his particular area of engineering interest: aerospace.

“NASA had said that by 2022, they were going to go to the moon, and SpaceX said by 2025, we’re going to go to Mars,” Ali said. “That fueled me, because everyone wants to be the person to do that. So I wanted to do it instead.”

Balancing a courseload of challenging classes plus a full schedule of club activities, Ali powered through to senior year with building velocity. He didn’t just want to graduate with honors and lots of engineering experience; he wanted to go to college without placing a financial strain on his mother, who had supported his ambitions since the beginning.

“There are multiple search features, multiple things to let you filter… they have testimonials from previous scholarship winners, and that is really helpful,” he added. Though he tried out scholarship search websites other than Scholarships.com, Ali said that “without a doubt, [Scholarships.com is] the best one.”

“I knew that a scholarship would open up so many doors,” said Ali. Thankfully, he had a good idea of where to start looking for one: “A lot of people at my school sung the praises of Scholarships.com, and I’m glad they did.”

Scholarships.com matches users with awards based on all kinds of qualities, from minority type and status to GPA to state of residence; with step-by-step instructions for each scholarship, students can apply for their matches without the hassle of tracking down eligibility criteria and required document lists themselves. In Ali’s case, this was critical, since his senior year was so busy.

“There are multiple search features, multiple things to let you filter… they have testimonials from previous scholarship winners, and that is really helpful,” he added. Though he tried out scholarship search websites other than Scholarships.com, Ali said that “without a doubt, [Scholarships.com is] the best one.”

It was on Scholarships.com that Ali found the Amazon Future Engineer scholarship, an award for high-achieving engineering students in their senior year of high school. Worth up to $40,000 over 4 years of college, the scholarship includes a paid internship and access to a huge network of STEM professionals, as well as individualized counseling services for its recipients. Ali knew he had to apply.

“When I was applying for this scholarship, I was also applying to a bunch of colleges,” he said. “I think I applied to almost 26. I spent my senior year applying all the time.”

But as graduation crept closer, Ali began to worry. He received more and more rejection letters— not just from various scholarships, but from colleges. In the end, the vast majority of those 26 schools rejected Ali, and he still hadn’t heard back about the Future Engineer award. “I worked really hard throughout my high school career,” he said. “What did I do wrong?”

“I feel like I needed that experience,” he said. In the face of so much rejection, “...it felt like I’d finally done something. The work I’ve put in has been meaningful. I did something right.”

Ali remembers the moment he got his decision email from Amazon in perfect clarity, down to the floor of the room he was in and the direction in which he was walking. It was surreal.

“When I was opening up the email, I was preparing myself: ‘Oh, this is going to be more of the same, I’m not going to get it,’” he recalled. “And so when I saw ‘hey, you’re in, you’re accepted,’ for a second, I didn’t even believe it. When it had processed in my mind, I just started crying immediately.”

Now mid-way through his freshman year at the University of Central Florida, Ali is more determined than ever to make an impact on the field of aerospace engineering. With the Amazon Future Engineer scholarship, he’s gained access to the education he’s always been chasing.

“It’s what’s letting me go to college,” he said of his win. If he hadn’t taken advantage of Scholarships.com to find and apply for the award, he wouldn’t have been able to cover his tuition without placing immense debt on his and his mother’s shoulders. For Ali, the scholarship is meaningful beyond its monetary value.

“I feel like I needed that experience,” he said. In the face of so much rejection, “...it felt like I’d finally done something. The work I’ve put in has been meaningful. I did something right.”

But between participating in contests, applying to college and for scholarships, and pushing himself academically, Ali has learned that the effort itself is what’s most valuable.

“Even when things are disappointing and things get hard,” he advised other students in conclusion, “know that there are people who support you and believe in you regardless of whether you win or lose.”