The San Marino Schools Foundation has announced that applications are open for the 2024 Leslie Noelle LienJun Mar Memorial Scholarship. The Leslie Mar Scholarship was established in 2018 by Patricia and Harry Mar of San Marino who created an endowment that would benefit students graduating from San Marino High School.
Their wish was to honor the legacy of their daughter, Leslie Mar, an accomplished young woman and SMHS graduate of 2013 who lost her life in a tragic hiking accident. Her life and achievements are memorialized each year by awarding scholarships to graduating seniors of SMHS who demonstrate a well-rounded excellence in academics, athletics and the arts to support them in their college paths. The Mars chose the San Marino Schools Foundation to steward their scholarship.
Last year’s recipients from the Class of 2023 were Esther Lian, Nicholas Luu and Christopher Jang.
Lian now attends Northwestern University and intends on double majoring in journalism and legal studies. She expressed the impact of receiving the scholarship as inspirational. “In honor of Leslie’s memory, I am determined to adopt her zest for life by seizing every opportunity to contribute to the vibrant and dynamic community at Northwestern and also beyond.”
Luu, an economics major at University of Southern California, is grateful for the preparation that San Marino schools provided him. “SMHS’ focus on academics from the community and student body is definitely something that I think has helped me learn a lot. Having gone to SMHS schools, I feel equipped to apply what I’ve previously learned, knowledge and attitude wise,” he said.
Jang is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in music at Emory University. He expressed his gratitude for receiving the scholarship, writing, “To know that there are people in the world who believe in me and want to support me in achieving my goals is a fantastic feeling. Further, knowing that others have invested in my college experience has given me an even greater drive to succeed in my academics.”
The scholarship was initially funded by the Mar family and donations made to SMSF, but is now sustained by the dividends from the scholarship endowment managed by the Foundation. It now annually grants $1,000 each to three outstanding Titans selected by the foundation scholarship selection process and approved by the Mar family. Class of 2024 seniors in good standing who have a minimum weighted GPA of 3.0 are invited to apply for this scholarship.
Restricted endowments are the preferred philanthropic vehicle for creating an ongoing, focused benefit to San Marino Schools. Donors interested in establishing an endowment with the San Marino Schools Foundation should contact Kathryn Oliveros by emailing koliveros@smsf.org.
First published in the March 14 issue of the San Marino Tribune
