Hi! I’m Nolan Yee, a Computer Science major at UT Austin from Katy, Texas. I’ve always been drawn to problem-solving—whether through math competitions in middle school, building personal software projects, or organizing budgets and schedules as part of my high school’s Student Council. In recent years, I’ve been fortunate to apply these skills in unexpected ways: assisting a professor with research on human-computer interaction, developing websites for nonprofits, and helping raise thousands of dollars for local special needs schools. These experiences have taught me how much I value taking on challenges, finding community, and seeking out ways to apply myself to greater causes.

At UT, I'm excited to build on these values—in collegiate level computer science courses that push me to learn and do more, in FASP events where I can bond with other scholars, and in student orgs that connect my skills to making real impacts. As a Forty Acres Scholar, I'm excited to learn with and from a community of people who are passionate about leadership, service, and challenges.

Major
Computer Science

Other Academic Interests 
Minor in Statistics & Data Science, Business

Extracurricular Activities 
UT Sustainable Building Initiative, Engineering and Computational Learning of Artificial Intelligence in Robotics (ECLAIR), Electronic Game Developers Society (EGaDS)

What drew you to the Forty Acres Scholars Program?
As soon as I got in the car to head home from finalist weekend, I told my mom, "I really want this." To be honest, I was a little surprised by myself. After all, UT had just been another school on my college list, and I hadn't even known about FASP before I got the email to apply. But seeing how passionate the older scholars were, hearing their experiences in the program, and learning about the impact scholar alumni were making in the world, I knew I wanted to be part of this community. Aside from the obvious financial allure of a full-ride scholarship, FASP provides so much more. If Finalist Weekend didn't solidify it enough, I had plenty of opportunities to bond with my cohort before my first semester even began, and I feel like I've found a second family—people I can look up to, learn from, and laugh with.