Wheel of Fortune - Bonus Round

Today was the day I was one step closer to meeting Pat and Vanna--my final audition for Wheel of Fortune. I had been watching each night, practicing the puzzles hoping that I would be able to solve them just as quickly when it counted. I was placed in a room with 50 lucky wheel watchers and we had to complete a questionnaire that asked everything from what level of education we had to our careers, interests and what station Wheel was on in the town we lived in. We watched a video of clips from various shows during their 25th Anniversary year as well as a good luck video from Pat and Vanna. Then the real fun began...We each got called on to showcase our puzzle solving skills. The letters of the first puzzle were filling in and my name was called. I spun for a "C" (using my loud, personable voice) and was able to solve the puzzle: "Scuba Diving Around The Island." I won an exclusive Wheel t-shirt as a prize. After everyone had their chance at a puzzle, we continued onto round 2 of the audition process. We were given a test with 4 categories, 16 puzzles in total, to solve within a five minute period. There were 2 versions so you couldn't cheat with the person sitting besides you. I was able to complete 10 and partially filled in some of the others. It was more difficult that I would have imagined and 5 extra minutes would have been ideal! We waited 15 minutes while they graded the papers and then selected 10 individuals to continue on to the final round. I wasn't one of them and was surprised at some of those that were selected (especially the man who almost knocked over one of the staffers). There is no rhyme or reason; you don't know what they look for. Everything happens for a reason. I think it would have been worse for me to get out to L.A. (on my own dime) and lose on the show. Or maybe ABC is going to call me to be the next Bachelorette and I wouldn't have been able to do both. I can wait a year to audition again. Depending on what stage of life I'm in at the time, I may just do that or just chalk it up to an exciting adventure that will make an interesting story one day.