 "Photo: Courtesy of Carol Kaelson")
Senior Sarah Raulli squeaked by her competition on "Wheel of Fortune" earlier this month, bringing home more than $12,000 worth of cash and prizes.
"It was pretty unreal," Raulli stated in an e-mail message from Australia, where she is studying abroad. "The game was so close, I only beat the other contestant by $300, so I was completely shocked to win."
On the show, which was filmed in November and aired Jan. 1, she won $5,200 in cash, plus a 7-day trip to Hawaii. She said she won't receive the money until May, but doesn't have any exciting plans for it.
"I plan to pay off debt – boring, I know – and save the rest," Raulli said.
The hardest part, she said, was trying to keep mum about her success on the show.
"I wasn't planning on telling anybody, but it was way too hard to wait two months between the time the show taped and the time it aired without telling my friends," she said. "So, I did tell my friends how I did. I wish I kept it a secret, but it was still exciting for them to see anyway"
The original airing of the show was pre-empted by coverage of the Rose Bowl, but she and her friends gathered together to watch it when it was aired later that night.
"It was really funny to see myself on TV," she said. "I felt so cheesy."
Raulli is the second university student to win on the show this school year. In November, senior Chris Gage brought home $40,550 in cash and prizes.
A third student, sophomore Charles Wallace, will appear in an episode that airs March 17.
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