Bernard Schulz, special assistant to the vice president of Campus Life, gave a shout-out to American University Aug. 8 on the classic game show “The Price is Right,” before winning a trip to Dubai, a treadmill, an electric motorcycle and a pool table.
“The Price is Right” is the one of the longest-running TV game shows, where participants bid on the actual retail price of the offered prizes and could win them all if they guess correctly.
Schulz has watched “The Price is Right” since he was child, but this wasn’t his first attempt to get on the show.
Schulz tried out for “The Price is Right” during his freshman year at Los Angeles Valley College with his sister and her friend, but wasn’t selected.
Participants are chosen at random from the 300-strong audience to stand at the four podiums, where they bid on the preliminary prizes.
The show selected Schulz to participate in the game when he went this year with his two sisters.
“I couldn’t believe it when my name was called,’” Schulz said.
Schulz was in the first group to be called to “Come on down!” He made the closest bid on the sixth prize, winning a pool table and getting on stage for the first time.
He then played the Money Game, which involved guessing the first two and last two digits of a car’s price.
“I did not win the Ford Focus, so I was a little bummed about that,” Schulz said. “But I did get to spin the wheel.”
All finalists can spin the wheel twice to get the closest to a sum of $1.00 without going over.
Before spinning the wheel, Schulz gave his shout-out to his colleagues at AU and his family in Virginia.
“This place has been my home of 11 years,” Schulz said of AU. “I love what I do; I love working here at AU. So, it was nice to make a comment about the place that, you know, you spend half your time at during the week.”
Campus Life was surprised and excited to see Schulz’s TV appearance. Vice President of Campus Life Gail Hanson and Schulz’s co-workers watched the show in the Mary Graydon Center.
“It was just a real surprise to know somebody who was on a game show,” Hanson said. “I think a lot of people who walked by and wondered what we were doing stopped in their tracks when they saw that it was Bernie.”
Schulz got a total of 95 cents after his second spin, beating the two other participants in that round and entering him into the last Showcase Showdown.
“I couldn’t believe it was happening, actually,” Schulz said. “I was like, ‘This is too crazy’. It was a total blast.”
In a showdown, the two finalists are offered separate prize packages, and they have to guess the total price of their package. The person with the closest bid without going over wins his or her package and can win both packages if the guess is $250 or less away from the price.
Schulz won one package consisting of a trip to Dubai, an electric motorcycle and a treadmill by bidding closest to the actual retail price.
He was $754 away from the price: only $504 away from winning both packages.
Schulz plans to take his Dubai trip with his sisters sometime between November and March this year.
His advice to any student looking to win big on “The Price is Right”: “Just have a good time,” he said. You know, it’s those types of crazy, laid-back outings that make vacations and just life enjoyable.”
