Contestant Blogs

Lauryn P.

POSTED Saturday, July 7th

After a long day of travelling, we finally arrived at our hotel at 9:00 at night. Of course in Tennessee it was midnight, so we were pretty exhausted. We got our things unpacked and went straight to bed because the next day was going to be a long one. At 7:15 the next morning, I got on the shuttle that was taking the contestants to Sony studios from the hotel where we were staying. By this point I could feel my nerves creeping up on me. I'm normally very talkative, but all I could do was sit quietly on the shuttle while everyone else seemed to know exactly what they were doing. How were they so confident!? Here I was freaking out while they acted like they were old friends hanging out at a class reunion.

At the studio, I started to loosen up. We had to fill out paperwork, go over the game rules, and get ready for our taping. There were six shows being filmed that day and I was on the fifth one. The contestant coordinators were extremely nice. They gave us time to have a few practice rounds so we would feel more comfortable when it was our turn to play. When I spun the wheel the first time, I realized it was extremely heavy! It looks so easy when you watch it on TV, but that thing weighs a ton! Vanna White came out to say hello and wish us luck while we were practicing which I thought was really nice.

After this, it was time for the first show to start taping. They put the rest of us in the audience to watch, and I was really glad I was one of the later shows. It gave me some time to watch how everything works and loosen up a little. By the time they told me to go downstairs because my group was next, I was feeling much more relaxed, or so I thought.

I stepped up to my place behind the wheel, and I could feel all of the color drain from my face. "What am I doing here?" is all I could think, but I didn't fly across the country just to stand there looking like a deer in headlights, so I picked up my buzzer and got ready for the first toss-up. After this point, everything is a little hazy as I try to remember it. I remember stressing out when I didn't get the either one of the first two toss-ups. When Pat asked me about myself, I mentioned that I am married, but I forgot to say my husband's name and how wonderful he is. (It's Matthew, and he is definitely a wonderful husband.)

By the time we got to the third toss-up, I was in last place with $1,000. I realized that I didn't come all the way here to leave with $1,000. After that, I felt like a different person. I attacked the last three puzzles with all I had, and ended up doing pretty good! I honestly had no idea how much I'd won until Pat told me that I missed going to the bonus round by $700. Once he said that I realized I had just won $11,150!!!! I was sad that I didn't get a chance to go to the bonus round, but who in their right mind can complain about spending 25 minutes playing a game for that kind of money?

My time on Wheel of Fortune was amazing. Everyone who was there to tape episodes that day became family for our time on the set. We laughed and joked, and I really enjoyed meeting them. It still feels like a dream when I think about it. Things like this just don't happen to small town girls like me. With the money, I was able to supplement my car fund enough to get a car nicer than I expected. I would like to use some of it to take a nice vacation with my husband after we graduate in May. After 5 years of college, I think we deserve a nice break from reality. Thank you Wheel of Fortune for giving me this opportunity!