![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Will-Zeller-STORY.jpg\")
Will Zeller, a senior biology student with a pre-dental concentration, first received the $25,000 Live M\u00e1s scholarship and is now involved in the fast-food giant’s national ad campaign for its Live M\u00e1s program.<\/p><\/div>\n
The Live Mas Scholarship is to help support Taco Bell employees who are pursuing higher education who demonstrate a passion for making a positive impact in their communities. More than over 13,000 employees nationwide apply each year, with only 12 awarded the $25,000 scholarship, which is renewable up to three times.<\/p>\n
Zellar’s fortune didn’t stop with the scholarship.<\/p>\n
He also received another offer from Taco Bell, this time asking if he would like to be a part of the scholarship ad campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said yes, of course, and they flew me out to Irvine, California, for a photoshoot with four other scholars,\u201d he said. \u201cThey treated us so nicely there, and they even gave us a personal tour of the Taco Bell Headquarters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zeller\u2019s image is now featured across national Taco Bell locations advertising the program.<\/p>\n
As a part of this scholarship, Zeller was awarded an all-expenses paid trip to San Diego to attend a leadership and networking conference with more than 300 other Live Mas scholars. He may apply to attend again every year.<\/p>\n
To apply for the scholarship, Zeller was required to record a two-minute video discussing his career goals and service in the community.<\/p>\n
He talked about his own project, Saving Senior Smiles.<\/p>\n
\u201cSaving Senior Smiles was a service project that I created in 2020 during the pandemic,\u201d he said. \u201cI usually participated in several different service projects in my community each year, but almost all of them were cancelled when the pandemic hit. With dentistry in mind, I was also worried that with all the other health concerns at the time, oral health was likely not a priority, especially for the older generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zeller talked with his local dentists and was able to gather over 200 donations that would go to the local senior centers. Each package was delivered safely with social distancing in mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project was a safe and effective way to serve the elderly population in my community,\u201d Zeller said. \u201cI wanted to let them know they weren’t being forgotten about during the pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now a senior, Zeller chose UToledo for the unique direct-admit dental program partnership with Case Western Reserve University. This year, he started his first his first year at Case Western\u2019s School of Dental Medicine, which he can more comfortably attend with the scholarship supporting him.<\/p>\n
Also supporting him is Dr. Deborah Hendricks, director of the Pre-Health Advising Center, who called Zeller a highly motivated and hardworking student.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis smile brightens the room and matches his warm and inviting personality,\u201d Hendricks said. \u201cIt has been a joy to watch him grow and move closer to his goal of becoming a dentist these past three years. I am proud of his accomplishments and am confident he will carry that same smile and inviting demeanor into his future dental practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zeller said he is grateful for what Taco Bell has done for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Live M\u00e1s scholarship program is more than just the money,\u201d he said. \u201cReceiving this scholarship was truly life-changing, and it\u2019s going to help me out immensely in paying for dental school.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Will Zeller, a senior biology student with a pre-dental concentration, is now involved in the fast-food giant’s national ad campaign for its Live M\u00e1s program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":914,"featured_media":88736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,39,1,71,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88735"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/914"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88735"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88740,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88735\/revisions\/88740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Promotional](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/UToledo-News-_TB-Story-150x150.jpg\")
<\/a>