So far, Nate Odinga has kept his day job as a Brandon High School English teacher.
Yet his employment status, along with bank account, may change significantly next week following a stint on the game show, ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?? which first aired at 3:30 p.m., Jan. 9 on WDIV-Channel 4. Odinga’s second appearance on the show is set for 3:30 p.m., Jan.12.
‘Everyone will just have to wait and see if I won or how much money I won, if any,? said Odinga, 29, a Clarkston resident and 2001 Michigan State University graduate. He is currently earning his master’s degree online from Walden University in Minnesota.
‘My wife, Stacy, saw they were going to have auditions for ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?? at the University of Michigan-Dearborn,? said Odinga.
Odinga and fellow Brandon High School English teacher Brian Moore traveled to the auditions in Dearborn last August.
‘I really did not think I passed the tests. The questions were really hard,? said Odinga, 29. ‘I even called my wife after the tests and told her I didn’t do so well.?
The show’s producers were impressed with Odinga’s results. Moore was not so lucky and was sent home.
‘Before I left Dearborn, they interviewed me on video. They asked me questions like, ‘What would I do with a million dollars?? They called me in about two weeks later and invited me to go to Manhattan on Sept. 21 for a taping of the show.?
In preparation for the show, Odinga purchased two books of trivia at Borders.
‘I tried to study about an hour each day,? he said. ‘That was no help whatsoever for any of the questions I was asked.?
Stacy and Nate funded their own trip to New York and arrived in the upper west side of Manhattan on a Sunday afternoon.
‘I was more nervous than I thought I would be,? he said. ‘It’s way more difficult than watching at home’there are cameras and lights everywhere, not to mention 200 people in the audience. We started taping the show at 7:30 a.m. and went all day until about 5:30 p.m. I came back on Tuesday morning to finish.?
His three ‘Phone-a-Friends? were Gary Hauff, a family friend and retired police officer from Troy; his sister Janelle Odinga, a high school history teacher from Shelby Township; and his brother, Matt Odinga.
‘It’s a situation I’ve never been in before’Meredith Vieira was sitting across from me. If I watch at home I can be 90 percent sure of my answer, but when I’m risking money, my money, I had to be 100 percent sure.?
Odinga said if he did win the money, it would be used for a down payment on a home.
He, his wife Stacy, a health care aide at Costello Elementary in the Troy School District, and their 9-month-old son Carter, currently live in an apartment