jackpot

During a volleyball tournament trip to Las Vegas in March, Chatsworth coach Sina Aghassy confiscated all his players’ cellphones and put them in his backpack to make sure they focused on their sports assignment — with one exception.

Anyone waiting to learn if they were accepted to a college could briefly have access to their phone.

The players are standing in a hallway listening to their coach evaluate their performance when Grant Wang, the team’s star 6-foot-6 senior, decides to open his phone to check whether he got a message from MIT.

“I opened it up a couple minutes before it was supposed to come out and all I see is confetti,” he said. “I was in shock and all I did was make a noise.”

Aghassy, not knowing what the noise meant, said, “Can you quiet down a bit?”

“Five minutes into his talk, I started breaking down crying. I got overwhelmed by emotions,” Wang said.

Volleyball standout Grant Wange of Chatsworth High has never received a grade other than A in high school.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Teammates didn’t know if it was good news or bad news as they saw his tears.

“My teammate whispers to me.”

Wang tells the good news, “I got into MIT.”

“Everyone breaks out cheering and going wild.

Wang had kept it a secret that MIT was his dream school. He was so disappointed in the fall when he was put on the deferred list that he didn’t think he’d get in.

He becomes the fourth volleyball player from Southern California to be accepted to MIT, joining three others from Redondo Union who he knows.

He’s never received a grade other than A in Chatsworth’s magnet program focused on STEM. He’s such a math whiz that he took geometry in eighth grade and finished all his math classes, from chemistry to calculus, last school year. This year he’s focused on AP Physics.

He already owns three rings — one playing for Chatsworth’s state championship basketball team with Alijah Arenas and two City Open Division volleyball titles. He’s going for a third ring this season as Chatsworth is expected to be the No. 1 or No. 2 seed for the volleyball playoffs. He gave up basketball for volleyball, a sport he didn’t start playing until his freshman year.

“I love the sport. I always put in extra work,” he said.

Redondo Union High volleyball players (from left) Tommy Spalding, Vaughan Flaherty and Carter Mirabal are headed to MIT this fall.

(Eric Sondheimer / Los Angeles Times)

Unlike the Redondo Union trio, he doesn’t surf and plays no instruments even though his Redondo Union friends are looking for a drummer to start a band. Wang knows math formulas, but drumming? “I cannot,” he said.

“In college, I’m going to learn how to drum so I can join the band,” he joked.

His size and improving skills make him a good volleyball prospect for the future. He seems all set except for dealing with cold weather.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been in weather under 60 degrees for two days,” he said. “My parents said, ‘Good luck,’ they would send me some hot Korean soup during tough days.”

Asked how he became such a good student, Wang said, “My mom and dad always put me in academic settings trying to get me to learn as much as possible.”

B’s on a report card are not allowed in his family.

He offered a rousing endorsement for his educators at Chatsworth.

“All the teachers put their heart and soul into us,” he said.

As for his volleyball coach, he appreciated Aghassy giving access to his phone for just a few minutes and apologizes for disrupting his speech.

What a memory it will be for years to come telling the story of being in Las Vegas and learning he got into MIT.

It was his jackpot worth more than money.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire viewers were left in hysterics after Roman Dubowski won the £1 million jackpot on Sunday night.

ITV viewers were left stunned as a contestant scooped the jackpot on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

On Sunday evening (April 26), Jeremy Clarkson returned to host a brand new group of hopefuls, each dreaming of walking away with the £1million top prize.

As Stockport resident and retired IT Analyst Roman Dubowski settled into the hot seat, many viewers at home predicted he would bow out early after burning through two of his lifelines in the opening rounds.

Yet, after a nerve-shredding series of questions, Roman found himself just one question away from a life-changing sum of money.

Jeremy put it to him: “Used since 1876, which trademarked logo is described in the James Joyce novel’ Ulysses’ and depicted in works by Manet and Picasso, reports the Express.

Answering Bass Ale, after using his 50-50 lifeline, Jeremy told him that he was current and had just become a millionaire.

Thrilled for his win, Jeremy said: “That’s fantastic! It happened so quickly, I don’t even know what to say, and you did it without my help!”

When quizzed on how he felt, Roman responded: “It doesn’t feel real at the moment. It hasn’t quite sunk in; it’s one of those slow-motion things that will probably sink in a little later today. But at the moment, I just take things one at a time.”

The victory marks the first time anyone has claimed the million-pound jackpot in six years, making Roman the seventh winner of the top prize in the UK version of the show.

However, users on X were swift to remark on Roman’s substantial victory after he deployed a lifeline remarkably early in the programme, unaware that egg was a fundamental ingredient in mayonnaise.

One viewer said: “What a decent bloke, absolute TV gold £1,000,000.” Someone else contributed: “I did not anticipate that, given how it started!”

Another person wrote: “There was me mugging him off because he didn’t know the mayonnaise question.” One viewer shared: “Can’t believe this guy just won a million pounds and didn’t know egg yolk went in mayonnaise – what a guy!”

Someone else remarked: “Didn’t know what was in Mayonnaise and leaves with £1M fairs.” Another chimed in: “What are the chances.. he didn’t know there were eggs in Mayo but knew all that other random s**t”

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is available to watch on ITVX.