Spin a wheel and make a fortune? It sounds too good to be true, but for Sacramento State junior Sahar Simatalat, that&s just how easy it was.

Simatalat will appear Thursday on the long running game show &Wheel of Fortune& for her second appearance and take home a nice chunk of change.

&I left with $6,800,& Simatalat said.

She was more excited than nervous during the taping, but she said she didn&t forget to represent her fellow Hornets on the show.

&I forgot to mention my family, but I gave Sac State a shout out,& she said.

A native of Iran, Simatalat spent hours waiting at the Sunrise Mall last October to have her chance to spin the wheel for representatives of the show, who were appearing at the mall that day.

Although never getting the chance to spin, she was told that her application could get drawn at random anytime, and she could receive a letter asking her to audition for the show.

Three months later, Simatalat received that e-mail.

&It was actually sent to my sister, but she couldn&t go, so she gave it to me,& she said. &I was so shocked.&

Simatalat was one of 60 who auditioned from Northern California.

The auditions were held at the Hyatt hotel in downtown Sacramento, and after a couple rounds of crossword puzzles and personality tests, the group was cut to 15.

Simatalat made the cut.

&I was very confident that I was going to get picked,& she said.

After getting a letter only two weeks before she was asked to go, Simatalat had to drop everything, including her midterms, to leave for Culver City in mid-October.

Simatalat arrived at the studio at 7:30 a.m. and was in the fourth of six shows to be taped that day. Surprisingly, it only took 15 minutes to tape the show.

&The studio is a lot smaller than you&d think, and the wheel is a lot heavier,& she said.

Simatalat had the chance to meet both Pat Sajak and Vanna White, both of whom she said were &extremely cool.&

As for the money, she plans to put it in a savings account, and invest $1,000 of it in stocks.

&I should fly to Europe, but I don&t want to spend it yet,& Simatalat said.

The episode will air tomorrow at 7 p.m. on News10.