“Wheel of Fortune’s” Wheelmobile made a stop in Chicago, NIU alumnus Mark Grotto fulfilled a lifelong dream.

Grotto originally planned to try out for the show with his sister for “Family Week.” However, after numerous auditions, callbacks and a switch to “College Week,” only one Grotto reigned supreme.

“I’m not really good with words,” said Grotto, currently a sophomore finance major at University of Illinois at Chicago. “But me and my dad always watched the show together when I was a kid, so I thought it would be fun.”

At the tryouts, Grotto put his name on a list and was randomly selected by the producers to go on stage. While auditioning, Grotto competed with four other hopeful contestants to solve a puzzle. After a successful outing spinning the wheel, he received a second audition.

“The other audition was more intense,” Grotto said. “There were less people there. Out of 60 people, I think I was the only college student.”

Although being a wordsmith is important to win the game, Grotto needed to be exciting and full of personality to get that final and most important callback.

“During the callback audition, there was a test, which wasn’t easy,” he said. “There were 16 puzzles given, and I think I only solved 3 1/2.”

Luckily, Grotto made the final callback and was invited to be a contestant on the show.

“[Being on the show] was pretty surreal,” he said. “They made us practice spinning the wheel; I don’t think you would be able to do it in your first try.”

While Grotto was preparing for the show to be taped, he couldn’t help but notice that television makes everything bigger.

“I said that I didn’t want to be a ‘Debbie Downer,’ but the puzzle board was really small,” Grotto said. “Vanna White is, like, 5’3″ and that’s in heels.”

Regardless of his puzzle-solving skills, Grotto beat the other two contestants and racked up more than $36,650 in cash before he made it to the final round.

“The last puzzle was a phrase, it was ‘Quiet down,'” Grotto said. “I got the letters ‘E,’ ‘T’ and ‘N’ in the puzzle, and I guessed ‘C,’ ‘G,’ ‘H’ and ‘A.'”

Unfortunately, these letters were not enough for Grotto to solve the puzzle and win a major prize. Nevertheless, Grotto walked out a winner.

What is Grotto going to do with all of the money?

“I’m going to set it aside and invest it in a [certificate of deposit] and probably spend about 10 percent of it.”

The “College Week” episode featuring Grotto airs at 6:30 p.m. today on ABC.