ASU Student Tries to Win Big on Who Wants to be a Millionaire


By Cassie Blombaum
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Tuesday, February 22, 2005

This week, college students from across the United States will test their knowledge on a popular TV game show, and an ASU student has the chance to walk away a winner.

This week Allyson Horgan, an Arizona State University psychology senior, is a contestant on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" hosted by Meredith Vieira of "The View."

The weeklong feature, College Week, gives students the opportunity to win up to $1 million and has given away almost $600,000 to students in the past two years, according to a press release.

Horgan is expected to be on the program today and said she and her friend auditioned for the show on a whim, with no intent of being chosen.

"I was on campus on a Friday doing research, and a friend told me that they were holding auditions. I just went to take the test to see how I would do," Horgan said.

Horgan said after auditioning she had completely forgotten about it until a few months later, when she received an unexpected phone call telling her she had been chosen and the show would begin taping in early January.

"(My friend) got a card in the mail a few weeks later saying that they had not chosen her. I did not receive one, but figured it got lost in the mail," Horgan said.

Horgan said her friends and family were all happy to hear about her appearance the show.

"I think everyone is pretty excited and interested to see how I did," Horgan said.

Overall, Horgan said being on the show was a great experience and was more like a vacation.

"I had a lot of fun on the show," Horgan said. "All of the producers were fun and made us feel relaxed. We spent the day at Disney World and the other theme parks there. It was a good mini vacation before going back to school."

College Week airs this week at 6:30 p.m. on KOLD Tucson.