On Wednesday, Marielis Nieves thought all she had to look forward to for the rest of the day was a two-hour drive with her father from Gainesville back home to St. Marys, Ga.
She never expected to be $2,500 richer.
Nieves, 18, was in a meeting with four other students of UF’s Innovation Academy, an enrollment model in which students attend classes only during the Spring and Summer semesters, when Jim Trebilcock, chief marketing officer for Dr. Pepper, knocked on the door.
Trebilcock came into the room and awarded Nieves $2,500 because of her video entry into the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” she said.
In Nieves’ minute-long video, she described why she deserved the scholarship, which ended with her dumping a 2-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper on her head.
In addition to $2,500, Nieves won a ticket to the SEC Championship game in Atlanta where, during halftime, she will have the chance to win a $100,000 scholarship.
To win the $100,000, Nieves must throw a football into a Dr. Pepper-shaped net, which is about 2 feet wide, in under 30 seconds.
She said she will have to start practicing her throw with her father soon.
Henry Nieves, 47, said his daughter played softball for six years and soccer for a year, so he likes her chances.
Nieves said he was proud of her drive to make the video, which she did by herself, and always taught her to work hard no matter what.
He said he was in Gainesville not only with his daughter, but to also work out his daughter’s financial aid situation.
Nieves is a Navy contractor, but business hasn’t been good. With every setback, he said, his daughter always looked to more scholarships.
“She didn’t give up.”
He said his daughter’s ability to go to college was on the fence because of the family’s financial situation.
And then Jim Trebilcock knocked.
Contact Ben Brasch at bbrasch@alligator.org.
Chief marketing officer for Dr. Pepper Jim Trebilcock, left, presents Marielis Nieves, 18, of Saint Marys, Ga., with a check for $2,500 from her video entry in the Dr. Pepper Tuition Giveaway.
