'Wheel of Fortune' hopeful attempts to take a spin

Dying to buy a vowel, Chris Bruce, AS '02, spins the wheel to win a prize at the Wheel of Fortune tryouts March 16 in the Perkins Student Center. Of the more than 500 students who attended, 200 were selected for pre-interviews and got to spin the wheel and win a prize, which might be a photo, a Frisbee, a mousepad, a T-shirt or tickets to a Wheel of Fortune taping. Bruce won tickets to the taping. Of those pre-interviewed at UD, 50 will be notified by early April to take the next step in the audition process in Philadelphia. More than 500 UD students gathered at the Perkins Student Center on Tuesday, March 16, to vie for a chance to appear on the popular television game show, Wheel of Fortune. Following is the experience of one student, Laura Overturf AS '99, an intern in the Office of Public Relations.

Oh, yes, I was feeling lucky. When I got to the line of Wheel of Fortune hopefuls at about 12:15 on Tuesday, nearly 80 students had already arrived.

Each student would get a raffle-type ticket when they walked through the doors of Perkins Student Center beginning at 12:30.

Okay, I thought, only 15 more minutes closer to winning thousands of dollars in cash and prizes--I could handle that. Then, the girl in front of me said only four numbers would be picked, and the next 50 consecutive ticket numbers would become eligible for a pre-interview. I was a little disheartened to hear that it would not be on a first-come, first-served basis. After all, I was only number 81.

When the line began moving through the doors, the excitement grew. When I got up to the Channel 6 staff members handing out the tickets, they informed me that the drawing wasn't until 2:30. I had two hours to play with the notion of appearing on Wheel of Fortune. My ticket number was 687009. It sounded good to me.

I'll admit it, I'm not a regular Wheel watcher. But, when I do catch it on TV, I enjoy figuring out the puzzles and, I have to admit, I am pretty good at it. But, as one of the girls in front of me pointed out, one of the contestants is always a huge failure. There is always one that tallies up thousands of dollars and a trip to Egypt and then can't figure the puzzle out or hits the wedge on the wheel offensively labeled "Bankrupt."

Would I be that person? Or, would I be the one to go home with a "Brand New Car!!!"? I work out, but there's no telling how heavy that wheel would be until I got there. As these and other thoughts of my future performance ran through my head, the time of the drawing grew nearer.

At 2:15, I departed for the Scrounge where the drawing was going to be held. I guess I thought that being 15 minutes early would do the trick if I was consistent. When 2:30 rolled around, the announcer relayed the rest of the rules.

Two numbers would be picked at random by the Blue Hen mascot, YoUDee.

The 200 winners would be taken to the Bacchus Theatre for a pre-interview. Only a few from the University would be chosen to have an actual interview in Philadelphia for the May "College Week" tapings.

The announcer gave a hypothetical number as an example. It was so close to mine; I just knew that I would be one of the 200 selected. I even had two tickets because a friend who had to go to class gave me hers.

While the formalities of the drawing were being explained, I dreamt of what I would do with my winnings and what it would be like if I won.

Pat and Vanna would congratulate me as I smoothed my hands over the steering wheel of my new car, and they would smile as they handed me the larger-than-life check with my name on it. They would be my best friends. Just me, Pat and Vanna--that's all I would need. My college loans would be paid off, and I would have the money to eat something other than instant rice and frozen vegetables for dinner.

I tuned back into the commotion just in time to hear the first winning number. 6-8-7-0-2-1 or the next 100 numbers. I frantically looked down at my two tickets as I heard people shout and cheer that they had one of those numbers. Mine read 687009 and 566327. No dice. I still had one more chance, and I figured that I had to be included in the next 100. There had only been 500 tickets given out. I had a 2-in-5 chance of being a winner. I was feeling confident.

With the little blue tickets becoming sweaty in my nervous hands, the next and final number was called out. 5-6-6-1-9-4. I had a 5, and a 6 and a 6. But the last three digits on my second ticket were 327 or 33 numbers away from winning, away from my buddies Vanna and Pat. My heart sank.

I couldn't believe it as I pushed my tickets back into the pocket of my jeans. Why couldn't my tickets have been a little bit more or a little bit less than the were? Maybe if I would have arrived right at 12:30 or 2:30 instead of being early, I would have gotten a chance to spin that wheel. But now I'll have to be a Wheel watcher along with everyone else when the show airs in May, watch as someone else buys the vowel that could have been destined for me.