Katie Walos, senior corporate communications major, has always imagined a trip to Hollywood, California with her best friend, but she never imagined the outcome of such a trip.
Several months before planning her dream vacation to celebrate her 21st birthday in Hollywood, Walos and her best friend Vicki Wargo, who also shares the same birth date and was also turning 21, decided to try and get tickets to be on "Let's Make A Deal." When two tickets arrived at her home a month before their departed trip, the two women designed costumes to wear on the show. They decided on two playing cards, appropriately numbered "21." The tickets were for the August 20 taping; their 21st birthdays happened to be the 21st. They felt that luck was on their side.
After waiting in line and completing a questionnaire and being interviewed, both women were selected to be contestants. "I was so excited waiting in line for the show and then I realized that I had been chosen," she said. Walos was seated on the end of the aisle and when Wayne Brady, host of "Let's Make A Deal," made his way to her, she almost jumped out of her seat with excitement. She was picked to play the "Don't Blame Me" game with another contestant in the audience who was dressed as a shopper with gift bags hanging all over her. Sadly, her best friend was not selected to participate. Walos chose a box for the contestant who claimed a diamond necklace. The woman selected money for Walos. She claimed $600 in cash. When asked to "trade-up," the other woman chose one of the famous curtains and was zonked and lost everything. Katie Walos decided to stick with her cash and chose not to select one of the mystery curtains. Walos had to sign an agreement not to reveal the outcome of the show until the air date, which was Wednesday, November 10.
For three months she had to contain one of the biggest secrets that she had known, but remembering the outcome and her winnings, always made her smile. "I'm glad it's out in the open now and I can talk about it with my family and friends. It was a great experience. A once in a life time experience."