Laura Klein's 15 minutes of fame ended up being the fastest half hour of her life. The sophomore won $6,000 on a "College Road Trip" episode of Wheel of Fortune, coming in third behind students from the University of Texas and Howard University. "It was the experience of a lifetime," said Klein, who has been watching the show as long as she can remember. She could have won more, but she hit an unlucky "Bankrupt" before realizing the phrase was "Halfway around the world." Since last summer, when she was selected to be a contestant, she has watched the show every day and started practicing with the online version of the game. But nothing could prepare her for the real experience: "It's actually much harder ... Everyone is pushing you to come up with the letters as fast as possible." Though she missed a pop quiz in one of her classes and "the wheel was much smaller" than she thought it would be, Klein believes her experience on the show was completely worthwhile. As for the prize money, Klein plans to start a fund for law school and "hopefully ... buy something fun."
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