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All TCU. All the time.

TCU 360

TCU 360

All TCU. All the time.

TCU 360

Students discuss religious topics in a small group. (Photo courtesy of tcuwesley.org)
Wednesday nights at TCU’s Methodist campus ministry provide religious exploration and fellowship
By Boots Giblin, Staff Writer
Published Mar 27, 2024
Students at the Wesley said they found community on Wednesday nights.

Bent on winning with lucky No. 14






People tend to have days where they just feel lucky. But not all people choose to test their luck in a game of chance – the lottery.




Lyndsey McClelland, a resident of the 109, and her friend Nick Newsom chanced their luck on a few lotto cards and ended up winning $50,000.

“It was just a random occurrence. Nick wanted to go get Skittles and I suggested we get a scratch off while we were out because I felt like gambling,” McClelland said with a laugh.

They bought a few tickets June 15 and won $10, so they bought two more and broke even. It was then that they decided to test their luck even further and go back into the store. There was construction inside the building so the tickets were moved off the counter.

“For some reason, I had a good feeling,” McClelland said. “I couldn’t really see the tickets, but there were these bright red tickets sticking out so I chose them. I have this theory that bent corners are lucky, so Nick, knowing my theory, chose that one to scratch for himself and I scratched the other one.”

When scratching the tickets, both McClelland and Newsom thought they had lost. But McClelland decided to double check Newsom’s ticket because of her “bent corner theory.”

“I snatched it out of his hand and wanted to double check,” McClelland said. “I then saw that we had won the $50,000 grand prize on the Cash Extravaganza ticket with lucky number 14 so I whispered, ‘We won.’”

Several minutes of disbelief and double-checking went by before they both went into the store to verify the ticket.

“Neither of us really got any sleep that night,” McClelland said. “We couldn’t decide where to put the ticket. It was like we wanted to keep an eye on it at all times.”

McClelland and Newsom drove to the claims office in Fort Worth at 8 o’clock the next morning. When claiming their prize, 25 percent was taken out for taxes, which left them with a check of $37,500. After receiving the check, they immediately went and deposited the money in the bank.

“Only then did it seem real,” McClelland said. “I was finally able to get some sleep, but I was still worried I would wake up to find out I had been dreaming.”

Since it was McClelland’s money, but Newsom scratched the card, they decided to split their winnings.

“I saved most of my half toward my house fund, but I did splurge on several rather expensive pairs of shoes from Neiman’s,” McClelland said with a smile.

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