Life > February 24, 2005

By Rachel Kowal

Old Gold & Black Reporter

So what would you do with a million dollars?  Go on an amazing vacation during Spring Break? Pay off some of your student loans?

Senior Aaron Mass said that he would buy a firm temperpedic bed and take his girlfriend out to Wendy’s and buy her four things off the 99 cents Value Meal Menu.

Mass auditioned to be on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire a few months ago along with many other eager university students. 

“They gave us a Scantron test with assorted random trivia questions.  Then they interviewed me with some basic questions and asked for me to share a funny or bizarre story, so I told them a few,” Mass said. 

Apparently his story about being cajoled by a camera crew to kiss a stranger on New Year’s Eve in New York City were enough to give Mass the boost he needed to be asked to appear on the show.

Or maybe it was the story of being in the middle of a gang shooting one early morning at Waffle House that sparked the interest of the producers.

Mass was in the middle of a supermarket when he received the call on his cell phone.

“I just sat down in the middle of the aisle,” he said, “I’m sure I was making a pretty big scene, but at that point I didn’t really care.  My parents were probably more excited than I was.”

This week, contestants represented colleges from around the country on the popular ABC game show.

Some of the schools included were Purdue, Duke and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

All of the students were put up by Disney World, where Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was being filmed.

Viewers familiar with the game show might have noticed that the show no longer includes the fastest finger questions.

This ensures that each contestant gets their own chance in the hot seat. 

Meredith Vieira, talk show host of The View, is the current host of the show.

“Meredith was actually very personable and nice.  We would carry on random conversations during breaks, and she was even familiar with the Wake Forest campus,” Mass said. 

After watching the show on the second night, freshman Carol Cresson said, “It seemed like Aaron had good charisma. I liked the banter between him and Meredith because it showed that he had a sense of humor.”

Winning $1000 may have been nice, but Mass also enjoyed just learning about the production process during his time on the show.

“I didn’t realize that it takes a long time to film the show. They stop filming every two questions or so and Meredith may get some water or something. And you’ll never see Meredith stutter because they actually do retakes of her asking the questions if she stumbles over a word or anything,” Mass said. 

Mass said he also really enjoyed filming both the individual and group promotions for the show.

Mass may have walked away with only $1,000 dollars after missing the $25,000— dollar question about the former capital of Australia, but he got farther than many of the other students featured on the college episode.

“It was funny.  The girl on the first night said that she had just taken a physics course and then she messed up the question about the area of a triangle, so I think Aaron did really well.  He had some hard questions, and Meredith kept interrupting him when he was trying to think,” said freshman Kathryn Nesbit. 

Aaron Mass may not be a millionaire, but he will at least be somewhat richer in a couple of months when his first check arrives in the mail.  Interestingly enough, the show reserves the right to decide not to dish out the dough.

If the contestants talk about the outcome of their experiences in the studio in the month or so between the date it was filmed and the actual air date they might not find a check in the mail.

Until then Mass will sleep on his uncomfortable mattress provided by the university and order only two items on the Value Meal Menu, dreaming of the new life ahead.