Equipped with a great deal of technical and practical knowledge, starting a course of study was nevertheless no easy undertaking for him. And yet it was a challenge that Marco Tornarolli gladly took up. As a master stonemason and expert in the craft of stone sculpture, he had gained many years of professional experience and was certain that his thirst for knowledge could only be satisfied by studying. With great eagerness and diligence he familiarized himself with foreign subjects and was pleased with his exam successes. The commitment as semester speaker was a logical thing for him; after all, he had always been involved in voluntary work, be it in the parents' council, the chamber of trade or the parish council. But despite all the joy of new professional opportunities and getting to know like-minded fellow students, it was not an easy time for the student at that time. Being a family man and working part-time to complete a course of study means having to overcome new hurdles time and again. In the winter semester 2013, the Gips-Schüle Foundation therefore supported him with a scholarship from the Studienstiftung of the HFT Stuttgart. For Marco Tornarolli, this is not a matter of course: "When I heard that I was going to receive a scholarship from the Studienstiftung of the HFT Stuttgart, I couldn't believe it. The honour that this brings me lifts me up as a student and not only acknowledges my achievements, but also evaluates my life so far".
And now, many years later, Marco Tornarolli himself is one of the scholarship holders of the HFT Stuttgart. With his office for building damage analysis, building physics and building protection in Zurich, he awarded a scholarship from the Studienstiftung of the HFT Stuttgart in 2019. He would like to support a student who is in a similar situation as he was then.
He is the first former scholarship holder at the HFT Stuttgart to become active as a patron himself and to set a good example: Those who were helped back then are now giving something back. An attitude that fully corresponds to his life motto.