Almost a millionaire
Who wants to be a half-millionaire? First-year Law student Steve Perry does after his $500,000 win on Sunday night's episode of ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millioniare?"
"It was a completely surreal experience," Perry said of his 25 minutes in the hot seat opposite host Regis Philbin.
Perry, a native of Thomasville, Ga., who earned a B.A. in history and political science at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., said he has always been a fan of the show. He tried out through "Millionaire's" new in-person audition process when he was in New Orleans after Spring Break.
After successfully making it past the audition, Perry was told he had to go to New York City within the next week for a taping April 4, which required some juggling of his University classes.
"I told my professors I had a very serious issue" to deal with, Perry said, noting that in retrospect, they would probably agree.
Once in New York, Perry said he tried to quickly study some trivia in areas with which he was unfamiliar, such as cooking and musical terms.
"Unfortunately I did not study 'The Brady Bunch,'" he said, referring to the million-dollar question he declined to answer. After answering 14 consecutive answers without using his three "lifelines," Perry was eluded by whether Carol Brady's maiden name was Tyler or Franklin.
But $500,000 dollars is still no small piece of change. Perry said he would like to invest the money or maybe just put it aside and forget about it for a while.
Perry's mother, who celebrated her birthday on Sunday, was in the audience to support her son.
"My family was just amazed," he said, adding that they would probably not be giving him any more loans.
-Julie Hofler
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