Eliot Student Wins $3,000 in Game Show

No one will ever be able to tell Shaina L. Trotta ’09 that procrastination is just a waste of time.

A few idle minutes spent filling out an online form last spring landed Trotta a spot as a contestant on an episode of Wheel of Fortune’s College Road Trip series last night.

Trotta placed second on the show, taking home $3,000. She sprinted to an early lead, but fizzled out when Price Troche, Jr., of San Francisco State University, piggybacked off of Trotta’s letter choices and dominated the rest of the game, winning $64,800 in cash and prizes.

The third contestant, Claire Floore of the College of Charleston, walked away with $1,000.

Over 20 students gathered in the Eliot House Grille to watch yesterday’s show and support Trotta, who is studying abroad in Scotland this semester.

The Eliot House Committee provided pizza and refreshments, while the students supplied cheers for Trotta and jeers for Troche.

“He only won because she got all the letters,” said Alexandra P. Greenfi eld ’09, one of Trotta’s blockmates. “His success is due to her. The fact that he’s going home with her money is a disgrace.”

Greenfield and Trotta’s other blockmates organized yesterday’s viewing.

“Since Shaina is in Scotland, we really appreciated that so many people came out to support her here,” she said.

“It was really brave of her to do it,” added Genna A. Ableman ’09, another blockmate.

Shaina’s Wheel adventure began in April. After filling out the form online, she was asked to audition within three months.

“There were people who were literally obsessed with being on the show,” said Trotta in a phone interview yesterday, adding that 70 to 100 people showed up for the audition.

Three weeks after the audition, Trotta received a voice mail informing her that she would be a contestant. Filming was completed in early September, only a few days before her flight to Scotland.

“I don’t know what I would have done if they had said filming would be in October,” said Trotta. “I wouldn’t have liked flying back from Scotland to play Wheel of Fortune. I’m glad I didn’t have to make that decision.”

Trotta said that co-host Pat Sajak was “pretty funny” and joked around with the contestants and the audience in between takes, while the show’s other cohost, Vanna White, was even more gorgeous in person.

A Government concentrator, Trotta says she is planning on using the prize money, which she will receive in February, to pay for her travel and work expenses.