David Hankins, Extension School Student, Wins $100K on Game Show

David G. Hankins, a student in the Extension School’s Health Careers Program, won $100,000  yesterday after a two-day run on ABC’s television game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

Hankins, who graduated from Dartmouth in 2005, was a holdover contestant on yesterday’s show after he ran out of time on Tuesday with all three lifelines remaining.

Hankins had answered two questions correctly and accumulated $7,100 in his Millionaire Bank by the end of the show the first day.

Yesterday, Hankins made his way through the rest of the 10 questions that made up Round 1, accumulating $48,600 and using all his lifelines.

Upon entering Round 2, Hankins faced Question 11, which was worth $100,000: “Who once wrote, ‘No one can make you feel inferior without your consent’?”

Unsure of the correct answer, Hankins took a guess at “B: Eleanor Roosevelt,” and was shocked when he heard he got it right.

“It was more money than I could imagine at the moment,” Hankins told The Crimson after the show aired yesterday.

Per this season’s rules, Round 2 consists of questions 11 to 14. Unlike Round 1, whose questions’ monetary values between $100 and $25,000 were shuffled and hidden, each question in Round 2 increases in difficulty with known dollar amounts. If a contestant chooses to walk away during Round 2, he gets to keep all of his accumulated Millionaire Bank.

Hankins chose to walk away with his $100,000 after he saw the next question, worth $250,000: “What country’s flag is the only national flag in the world whose front and back sides feature different emblems?”

The answer was “D: Paraguay,” but Hankins did not want to take the risk again.

“The thought of risking that much money seemed crazy to me,” said Hankins. “It was definitely a heart breaker, because I’ve always been obsessed with geography, and I could remember collecting flags when I was little.”

Originally from Minneapolis, Minn., Hankins auditioned for the show in New York City in June and filmed his episodes on Oct. 29 and Nov. 2. Hankins said he plans to use his winnings to pay for medical school.

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.