Jibran Ilyas, a 17-year-old from Sen High School, wins the first scholarship on a Chicago game show modeled after "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." He answers 15 questions correctly from a 1,700-question study guide to secure a $60,000 DePaul University scholarship and calls his physics teacher to share the news.
Chapters
Well, Robin, there is nothing more important than a quality education, and that's what this game show is offering any Chicago public high school senior brave enough to take the challenge. In this game, a contestant's final answer could produce a 4-year academic scholarship at a prestigious university.
It kind of looks like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and kind of sounds like it too. Our qualifying question reads: But she's not Regis Philbin, and these Chicago public high school students are not competing for $1 million.
Answer the Y2K bug, all right.
In this locally produced spinoff of the original, a correct final answer negates the need for a college loan. It's called Who Wants to Win a Scholarship? And yesterday, 17-year-old Sen High School senior Jibran Ilyas became the cable show's first winner. He called his lifeline, his physics teacher, to announce his victory.
Hey, Mr. Schwartz, I'm pretty sure of the answer. I just wanted to let you know that I won the scholarship.
Jibran's final answer got him a 4-year scholarship to DePaul University. That's $60,000 worth of tuition. He's one of 18 area high school students selected to compete for 3 academic scholarships: one to DePaul, another to Loyola, and the third to Northeastern Illinois University.
I was like, I don't have to pay for college. That's— I mean, I was very happy. And it was a wonderful moment of my life, and I was quite proud of it.
Preparing for the test included a 1,700-question study guide, and making the final cut did not just entail smarts, but courage too.
We had kids who got stage fright. We, you know, we were quite surprised at the number of kids who had enthusiasm and studied, but then when the actual 11th hour came in, they kind of fell off.
It's intimidating. Today, no one won the Loyola scholarship, and tomorrow students will compete for the Northeastern Illinois scholarship. The teens have to answer 15 questions correctly to win the free tuition. The shows will be broadcast next week on Cable Access Channel 21 here in Chicago.
Contestants were asked to study 1,700 questions, and the winner answered 15 correctly. He's then high school senior Jibran Ilyas. who told our Frank Mathey he's thrilled.
It all paid off.
All the studying?
Yeah, all that paid off. I'm really happy. This is one of my greatest achievements in life, and I'm really proud of that.
Jibran is a 17-year-old native of Karachi, Pakistan. 2 more winners will be chosen this week.
We're pleased to present the scholarship certificate tonight from Cent High School to Jibran Ilyas.
