It was Grassfield High School's prom May 15 and Leonardo Gomez was getting tired. The 18-year-old told his girlfriend he was ready to go home, but Nhi Tran insisted they attend the school's After-Prom party.
All of the seniors who stayed to the bitter end - and therefore remained safe for the night - qualified for a drawing to see who might get the opportunity to win a car from Cavalier Ford.
As the night wore on, though, Gomez ran out of steam again, and told Tran he wanted to leave early.
"I figured I wasn't the type of person to win anything," he said.
But again, Tran convinced Gomez to stick it out. When the names were called out, no one was more shocked than Gomez to find out he had earned a 1-in-7 chance of winning a 2008 Ford Focus.
So on June 2, Gomez waited at Cavalier Ford on South Military Highway, along with five other seniors (the qualifying senior from Indian River didn't show up). Also vying for a chance at the vista blue Focus were Meghan Cozens, 18, Hickory; Cierra Edwards, 18, Oscar Smith; Whitney Wilson, 18, Deep Creek; Emily Hansen, 17, Great Bridge and Kelly Logan, 18, Western Branch.
Mayor Alan Krasnoff dragged out the lottery number reading as long as possible, since it came down to the final digit.
When Gomez realized it was his number, he thrust his hands in the air, then grabbed his head in disbelief as his colleagues clapped in celebration.
"It was like when Italy won the World Cup," he said. "I couldn't believe it."
After a few handshakes, Gomez called his mother, Maria, speaking to her in Italian on his cell phone. With a Puerto Rican father (Leonard Gomez Sr.), Gomez is tri-lingual.
The family moved from Italy to Chesapeake 10 years ago. Before attending Grassfield High, he went to Deep Creek High.
Winning the car came at a fortunate time for the soon-to-be matriculated Gomez. His 1986 Toyota Supra had just suffered transmission problems, and he needed a vehicle to get to his new job at Wal-Mart.
Gomez plans to attend Tidewater Community College to get his basic courses out of the way before transferring to Delta Academy in Florida, where he will study to become a pilot.
Now, with new wheels, Gomez is thinking of another possibility, a road trip to New York City.
Perhaps, he should take his girlfriend.
Devon Hubbard Sorlie, 222-5202 or
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
