Reminiscent of the days when he skipped school to watch "The Price Is Right" on TV when he was younger, Gonzalo Barcia skipped work July 27 to take his best shot at making it to contestant row.
Today is Barcia's 23rd birthday, and most people will have a difficult time topping the gifts he'll be receiving in prize-form after competing on the show.
"I can't complain," Barcia said.
That's all the fifth-year mechanical and aerospace engineering student can say until his episode airs this morning at 11 a.m.
While interning at Raytheon Co. in Los Angeles last summer, Barcia found himself with a little extra time on his hands. He and a colleague made their ways over to the CBS studio in Hollywood bright and early, waiting in line from about 4:45 a.m. to 6:30 a.m.
"I woke up that morning with a smile on my face, and it didn't wear off at all," he said. "I just believed it at the bottom of my heart that I was going to make it to contestant row."
And that's just what he did, sporting a bright orange Gators shirt topped with an equally spirited hat.
"I have to represent where I'm from," Barcia said. "I think I even did a little Gator chomp."
Each morning, competitors are selected from that day's audience. Barcia was weeded out from hundreds of other potential contestants, acing the final on-the-spot interview.
"I said, 'I almost feel like a kid in a candy shop because I can't contain myself,'" Barcia said. "The average person's interview lasted two minutes. I took five."
Barcia also developed somewhat of a support group while waiting in line that morning.
"People were shaking my hand and saying, 'I know you're going to get picked,'" he said.
Soon, the overhead lights danced around the studio and music blasted into the already-applauding audience. The announcer, Rich Fields, a UF graduate, introduced Drew Carey, the show's host.
Barcia was the third name Carey called, and then it was game time.
"I was ready to go," Barcia said. "I had no doubt in myself."
Barcia bid and bargained his way through the show, his eye on the prizes to come if he made it to the Showcase Showdown.
"I really wanted to win a trip," Barcia said.
When it came time to spin the wheel for the Showcase Showdown, although he was not allowed to be specific, Barcia said luck was on his side.
"I was just ecstatic," Barcia said. "I was going crazy. I jumped up into the air, and I pumped my fist in the air about five times. I think I broke my watch."
He was heading to the final round: The Showcase.
While CBS protocol prohibits Barcia from disclosing the final outcome of the show, he was allowed to comment on his emotional reaction to the 60-minute game that would, in many ways, change his life.
"I was sweating," Barcia said. "There's all this pressure on you. I can't stress that enough. Everything happened so fast; you have no time to really take it in."
As Barcia prepares to graduate in the spring, currently working part-time at the UF Athletic Association as a customer service representative, his experience on the show has impacted the way he views himself.
"It's made me believe in myself a lot more," Barcia said. "I believed in myself. It made me remember to not doubt the power of going after what you really want."
