William Mar, Computer Engineer and Scholarship Winner

It Adds Up

When William Mar was a child, his father accidentally enrolled him in a beginner’s coding lesson at their local library; from the moment he sat down at the computer, he was obsessed. Now, Mar has chased that passion all the way to the University of Texas at Austin, where he is enrolled as an incoming freshman in electrical and computer engineering. With Scholarships.com’s help, he’s received awards from countless competitive scholarship organizations to support his dream.

Mar’s hometown of Austin, Texas, is a hub of technological development, so he took advantage of every opportunity it held for him as he advanced through his primary and secondary education. He balanced his academic endeavors with extracurricular and athletic involvement as a leader in countless clubs, as president of the Pickleball club, Vice President of the Aerospace club, tennis team captain, and much more. He was a competitor in UIL and SkillsUSA, where he participated in both tech and healthcare competitions, placing in the top 5 for the state in Website Design, 4th in the nation for the Health Knowledge Bowl, and 3rd in the region for Cybersecurity.

On top of that, Mar took jobs at tech companies like Interplay and Temp Jacket to gain valuable work experience.

“At Interplay, I worked as an Assistant Video Producer and Intern, where I helped edit an entire docuseries featuring leading industry professionals in the skilled trades industry,” said Mar. “I also worked as a Solo Website Developer for Temp Jacket, where I used HTML, CSS, and Wix to create an API-integrated website with over 10 user-friendly features.”

“I won the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship, which is life-changing,” Mar said. “I was also a POET Never Satisfied Scholarship Finalist, a Jimmy Rane Foundation Scholarship winner, and an NHS Scholarship National Semifinalist…”

One of the most impactful experiences for Mar came from an internship with the City of Austin, where he did hands-on work interviewing residents about the lack of accessible hydration in the city.

“There, my team and I created an app called Aquify ATX,” he said, “which combated both plastic waste and dehydration by giving users easy access to the locations of the city’s water fountains.” These efforts, which involved leading his team in a pitch to investors at the Austin City Hall, earned Mar the highly-competitive City of Austin Entrepreneurship Award for marketability and revenue potential.

Mar did not restrict his involvement to competitions and high-pressure work, though; he used his spare time to establish and lead a team of over 20 volunteers through the charity organization Reach Through Rackets, which offers free tennis clinics to children with disabilities. During the holiday season, the charity hosts the Barrington Hot Chocolate Fundraiser, which sells over 500 cups of hot chocolate and raises over $1,000. This money goes to a great cause: buying and delivering hand-wrapped presents to the underresourced students at Barrington Elementary, sharing the Christmas spirit with all.

With his work experience and extracurricular involvement in tow, Mar was set for an education and career in engineering by the time his senior year of high school came around. Even with all his dedication, though, there was still one roadblock in his way: the finances.

“Since I wanted to pay for college without burdening my family, I made it my goal to apply to as many relevant scholarships as possible, and that's when I discovered Scholarships.com,” he said.

Mar signed up for a free account on Scholarships.com and matched with scholarships based on his demographics, academics, and interests. From the hugely-competitive Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship to the local Texas Society of Professional Engineers Scholarship, he was delighted to find he was eligible for all the awards on his dashboard.

“The matches were surprisingly accurate, and I did apply for most of them,” Mar said. “The relevance really made the difference in my success rate.”

Scholarships.com’s centralized design saved Mar time and cut down his stress as he approached high school graduation. He didn’t need to spend hours searching to find the right opportunities; personalized updates came directly to his email inbox every week so he could stay focused on his schoolwork and extracurriculars.

"Instead of bouncing between dozens of different websites and organizations, I could manage my entire scholarship search from one central location,” said Mar. And that organization paid off.

“I won the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship, which is life-changing,” he began. “I was also a POET Never Satisfied Scholarship Finalist, a Jimmy Rane Foundation Scholarship winner, and an NHS Scholarship National Semifinalist…”

The list goes on. In all, Mar used Scholarships.com to score enough money to fully fund his first year at UT Austin— and he doesn’t intend to stop any time soon.

“I'm constantly applying and working hard to get more scholarships, and it’s given me a deeper sense of purpose to succeed in college. Knowing that others believe in me and are willing to support my journey is incredibly humbling— I carry that support with me every day, and I’m truly grateful,” said Mar. “The momentum from these wins has been incredible.”

“Instead of bouncing between dozens of different websites and organizations, I could manage my entire scholarship search from one central location,” said Mar.

“I really want to emphasize how all these little efforts add up,” he continued. An invigorating college experience lies ahead of Mar without the threat of overwhelming student debt looming over it, all because of his persistence. His advice for other students is just that: to persevere.

“Don't give up if the first couple of applications don't work out,” he concluded, “that happened to me, too, but you'll find your groove. Because in the end, it’s not just about winning scholarships— it’s about believing in your potential, pushing through every setback, and proving to yourself that your future is worth fighting for.”