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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
Wheel of Fortune Game show Featured NSU Associate Professor as a Contestant
Julie Torruellas Garcia, Ph.D.
Julie Torruellas Garcia, Ph.D., associate professor at NSU’s Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography, was a contestant on the nationally televised game show “Wheel of Fortune,” which airs locally on WPLG-Channel 10. She was on the show which aired Thursday, October 13, 2016.
“Have you ever watched a game show from home and expertly answered every question or solved every puzzle? You may have thought to yourself, ‘I should be a contestant on that show!’ That was the case here,” said Torruellas Garcia, whose dream was to compete in the wheel-spinning show where contestants choose a letter to solve hangman-style word puzzles.
Torruellas Garcia decided to pursue her dream after attending a goal-setting workshop with high-school girls whom she mentors.
“We were helping the girls set life goals and encouraging them to take action to achieve those goals. I realized that my goal was to be on a game show but I was not doing anything about it,” she said.
She was selected for a first audition from a random drawing of names. Three months later, she was called back for a rigorous second audition that included a written exam. Two weeks later, she received a congratulations letter.
During the summer, Torruellas Garcia filmed the show in Los Angeles where she met celebrity host Pat Sajak and hostess Vanna White.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never forget,” she said.
When the final wheel was spun, Garcia was the game’s winner, but, unfortunately, she did not win the bonus round.