Indy Law Student Takes On “Who Wants To Be Millionaire”
Next week a national TV audience will watch as a 23-year-old student from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) goes for the big bucks.
Blake Howell, a first-year student at Indiana University School of Law-Indianapolis, located on the IUPUI campus, will be a contestant on the "Who Wants To Be a Millionaire," show airing locally at noon Monday (Jan. 21, 2008) on WXIN (Fox 59).
And the fear Howell says "Millionaire" viewers might notice in his eyes - or the timing of his responses - isn't the result of any worry about getting the answers right.
"I was scared about missing classes," said Howell who wants to practice sports and entertainment law and was in the first weeks of his law school career when he went to New York to tape the show.
"It was really fun," said Howell, "but I did miss classes. At that point (in the school year) I was scared about law school … I answered the questions so quickly because I was so scared of missing class."
Howell grew up in Harvey, Ky. His hometown, a rural community outside Benton, Ky., has a population of 500 people and is located about 30 miles south of Paducah. He says he never missed a single class while earning an undergraduate degree in history at Transylvania University in Lexington, Ky.
He missed three classes at IUPUI to travel to New York for the Sept. 12, 2008, "Millionaire" taping, but Howell said it was all worth it, particularly since it gave him the opportunity to do something "cool" for his parents.
Howell's dad, Pete, a sheriff, and his mom, Mony ("MOW-KNEE"), a seamstress, accompanied the law student to New York and sat in the "Millionaire" audience as their son competed.
"They were ecstatic," Howell says.
Since the aspiring attorney refuses to fly, his parents drove from his hometown to Indianapolis to pick up their son and then drove 12 hours to New York for the taping. The trio left immediately after the taping.
"New York was a blast" although they were only in the city for 24 hours, the law student said.
"Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," hosted by the Emmy Award-winning Meredith Vieira, airs weekdays in national syndication. In each 30-minute episode, contestants start in the "Millionaire" hot seat, where they face 15 increasingly difficult multiple (choice) questions in order to win a potential $1 million," said show publicist Trish Miller. For information about the show, go to www.millionairetv.com.
Howell took along a "Tater Day" T-shirt to give to Vieira. The shirt commemorates the annual three-day Tater Day Festival in Benton, Ky. The event, perhaps the world's only festival honoring the sweet potato, begins the first Monday in April and includes a parade, a carnival, and baking and canning competitions.
Tater Day is a "throw-back festival to celebrate our town's heritage," Howell said of the festival which started in 1843 when farmers would bring their harvest, including sweet potatoes to the town square to trade or sell.
TV game show enthusiasts might get a double dose of Tater Day on Monday. In a strange timing of events, Howell's long-time friend, Britney Lewzader, can be seen as a contestant on NBC's "Deal or No Deal" airing Monday night. Howell said he and Lewzader were classmates from kindergarten through the 12th grade.
According to news reports, Lewzader says she wore her "Miss Tater Day" beauty queen sash and tiara to the "Deal or No Deal" taping.
Howell says he didn't compete on "Millionaire" just for the money, but saw the contest as a way to challenge himself. What will he do with any winnings?
Howell told show officials that if he won big, he would pay off his student loans.
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