By Robin Martin
Matt Larson is one of the few college students who can say he fulfilled his childhood dream of being on national TV and winning more than $50,000 in prizes while doing so.
Larson, a senior from Fairmont, Minn., majoring in chemical engineering, dreamed of meeting Bob Barker.
In August, Larson was a contestant on The Price is Right. He met the game show host and won both of the final showcases. The show airs at 9 a.m. today on CBS.
Larson won many prizes, including a hot tub, a trip to Brazil and a Broyhill living room set.
'I remember a few years ago a girl from BYU won a mustang on the show,' Larson said. 'I thought that would be a dream come true and wondered how you actually get on the show.'
Larson and his wife, Chelsie Larson, moved from Provo to California for the summer to work and be by the beach.
'My wife started the whole thing. We had to make a lot of money working this summer,' Larson said. 'She thought it would be fun to get tickets for the show since we were in California anyway.'
Co-workers and friends bought tickets and waited in the long line to get into the game show. The group all wore neon-green shirts with 'Bob for Governor' painted on them.
There is a trick to getting picked as a contestant, Larson said.
Contestants are not drawn randomly. Before the show, producers and assistants meet the audience members as they wait in line to be seated. The producers choose contestants from groups they visited. People from big groups and who make the producers like them get picked, Larson said.
'As the producers met our group they asked me to tell about myself. So I said I was from BYU,' Larson said.
He explained how as a child he watched the show every morning, religiously.
'I consider Bob Barker a second father,' Larson told the producers.
When Bob Barker asked for a new contestant after the first game had been played, Larson said he knew someone from his group would be called up, though he didn't think it would be him.
After missing his first two bids, Larson finally won and got on stage.
'I said, 'OK just trust your self and stop looking back because it was only confusing you',' Larson said.
Larson won his bid on a silver serving set, then ran up on stage to meet Bob Barker.
'Bob is very charismatic,' he said. 'He is getting older, so I was glad to meet him while he still was hosting the show. He is the sweetest old guy -- very cool.'
Once on stage, Larson played a game called 'The Most Expensive.'
The game had three prizes, including a washer-dryer set. Advertisements for the three prizes were played, then Larson had to guess the most expensive prize.
Larson said he lost because he was busy talking to Bob Barker while the advertisements were being played.
Chelsie Larson watched her husband from the audience.
'When Matt was on stage I was so nervous. I bit off all my nails,' she said.
In the next part of the game show, three contestants spun the wheel for a chance to play in the final round of the show, the 'Showcase Showdown.'
'I watched the other contestants spin the wheel. This sounds dumb but having an engineering back ground I watched how hard they spun the wheel and tried to calculate how I should spin it,' Larson said.
Larson's spin resulted in the same amount as the first contestant. The two had a spin off.
Larson won the spin off and went on to play in the final showcase showdown.
The two final contestants bid on one of two showcases of prizes. The contestant who bids closest without going over the price wins the showcase he bids on.
Larson bid within $100 of his showcase's retail price, so he won both of the showcases.
One of the prizes Larson won from the showcase showdown was a trip to Brazil.
'I'm taking my wife on that trip,' he said.