黑料吃瓜

How would you like to attend graduation ceremonies in May, be awarded your degree in civil engineering, then drive off in a brand new, totally free Mazda Miata? And hmmm . . . what to do this summer, after school鈥檚 out for the last time? How about celebrating with a free trip to the Bahamas? 

This isn鈥檛 just some pleasant fantasy for senior Patric de Boer. It鈥檚 real life.

An eventful spring break

Patric is a resident assistant (RA) in Tenochca Residence Hall, and in his last semester at 黑料吃瓜. He, along with 30 other students and RAs, boarded a rented bus and drove up to Hollywood to attend a special 鈥淪pring Break鈥� taping of The Price is Right in March. (The show aired March 15 on CBS.)

At the show鈥檚 opening, they call down 4 members of the audience, and de Boer was one of the lucky ones. Most of the other 黑料吃瓜 participants were dressed in Aztec colors, but de Boer was wearing his gray 鈥淪an Diego State Engineering鈥� T-shirt.

鈥淚 still can鈥檛 believe I got picked,鈥� de Boer said. 鈥淭here were 400 people in the audience. I was wearing a T-shirt that had a calculator on it. They kind of picked up on the nerd element, I guess.鈥�

Lucky winner

On stage, de Boer participated in games like guessing the price of a Toyota Prius, and spinning a large wheel in the 鈥淪howcase Showdown,鈥� which won him $11,000 dollars. This was lucky, because it鈥檚 just about the amount he鈥檒l need to pay taxes on the other prizes he won: the Mazda and the trip to the Bahamas, as well as a Mac laptop and new surfboards and wetsuits.

鈥淚鈥檝e never had a new surfboard before,鈥� said de Boer, who grew up in Vista and loves to surf. 鈥淥nly garage sale and hand-me-down ones.鈥�

De Boer hasn鈥檛 yet taken possession of any of the prizes, valued at $44,000 total. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to bring it all down to my house in Vista sometime around mid-May.鈥�

He鈥檚 pretty sure they鈥檙e going to let him choose the color of the car: 鈥淩ed, definitely.鈥�

For the uninformed, The Price is Right is largely a guessing game. Contestants are presented with a variety of products, such as refrigerators, dishwashers and computers, and they must correctly guess the price of each item. When they get it right, they keep the item.

For the 鈥淪pring Break,鈥� episode, most of the items were gadgets and tech stuff, de Boer said. Things that would appeal to college students. The show鈥檚 host is Drew Carey, who joked around with the students off-camera to help put them at ease.

鈥淗e was funny,鈥� de Boer said. 鈥淩eally sarcastic.鈥�

Surprisingly calm

So did he suffer from any stage fright, in front of all those cameras?

鈥淚 was a lot calmer than I thought I鈥檇 be. I couldn鈥檛 really believe it was even happening. So I wasn鈥檛 too nervous.鈥�

Besides, he had a whole group of friends out there in the audience, cheering him on.

鈥淓veryone was decked out in Aztec gear while I was on stage. They were all out there doing the 鈥業 believe鈥� chant 鈥� the one they do at the basketball games.鈥�

In fact, when Carey asked him if he wanted to say 鈥渉i鈥� to anyone, de Boer sent a 鈥渟hout out鈥� to the Aztec basketball team. At the end of the show, his friends in the audience rushed the stage, dressed in Aztec red and black.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a good episode,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 worth watching.鈥�

And during the bus ride home to 黑料吃瓜, everyone was congratulating him.

鈥淚t was surreal. Very strange. I couldn鈥檛 even believe it.鈥�

But 24-year-old de Boer isn鈥檛 the only lucky one in the family. His brother Rory will be accompanying him to the Bahamas this summer.

鈥淚 told my brother he鈥檚 lucky, too, because right now I don鈥檛 have a girlfriend.鈥�