The winner of the 2011 University of Iowa Big Ten Network’s "Live Big" Scholarship was announced live last night at the Nebraska-Purdue men’s basketball game. Jennifer Nicklaus, a UI graduate teaching assistant in the Geography Department, received the $1,000 scholarship for her outstanding service.

Each scholarship applicant was required to serve a minimum of 10 service hours and to submit a 500- to 1,000-word essay explaining her of his service.

Competing against four other UI finalists, Nicklaus showed outstanding service by volunteering at Miracles in Motion, a therapeutic stable that helps people with disabilities heal through horses.

Nicklaus started working at Miracles in Motion in August 2006.

"It’s great, it’s wonderful, I love volunteering," she said. "It makes students [with disabilities] happy; you never have a bad day at Miracles. They have so much fun it’s really just infectious."

Nicklaus said she was impressed by the support from the community, her family, and friends.

"The response ended up being a lot bigger than I thought it would be," she said. "I thought there might be a chance I would win. I wasn’t expecting to, but I’m happy I did."

— by Jenny Earl