The Win(Connie Nye-Kaley) The Win

“Guess what?” Layla exclaimed with pure excitement. “I got in!” Layla walked quickly into the dining room and spoke loud enough to be heard over the oven’s fan. Layla’s mother was in the kitchen preparing dinner when she heard the spectacular news.
“Oh my goodness, that’s amazing!” Her mom turned toward her daughter, oven mitts still on her hands, and gave Layla a big hug. “I am so proud of you!” Layla sat at the dining room table studying the acceptance letter. She had been accepted to the University of Ottawa for Bachelor of Science in Biology. Her 96% average in high school had definitely paid off! She had been offered early acceptance to the other 2 schools she applied to as well, but the University of Ottawa had been her first pick. Living in rural Ontario, she loved visiting the city of Ottawa and had always dreamed of studying in the nation’s capitol. Layla read the letter out loud to her mother and went over all the details. As it turned out, Layla’s high marks had qualified for a $4500 entrance scholarship! She was absolutely thrilled!

Layla's mother seemed to dance around as she set the table for the four of them. Dinner was usually at 5:30 every weekday and Layla’s father arrived home just minutes before the lasagna was set on the table. Layla’s mother called to her younger brother to come to the table for dinner. Tonight, was an extra special night. It was Layla’s 18th birthday. The family celebrated with her favourite dinner and a homemade money birthday cake. The money cake was a tradition in her family where coins and dollar bills were wrapped in tinfoil and inserted in the layers of the cake. Layla’s father and brother sat down to dinner and Layla shared the news. “Dad, I got in!” Her dad was already scooping out his piece of lasagna from the dish. “Got in where?” He asked inquisitively. “University of Ottawa for Biology” Layla shared the news from the acceptance letter with her father and brother. Layla’s father was thrilled. “Good for you! And to get a scholarship, that is awesome” he said while wrapping the strings of cheese around his fork. Layla’s brother also spoke with excitement “I guess I’m going to get the T.V to myself come September!” Layla turned to him with a huge grin. “Ya well you still have a couple months to put up with me! They continued dinner, had birthday cake, and opened gifts as per tradition. It was a perfect day to celebrate!

The next day was a lazy, rainy Saturday at the beginning of May. Layla spent the morning in her room, at her computer on the University website looking up program information, tuition, and residence fees. She was shocked! With the student dining plan included in the cumulative expenses, it was going to cost close to $25,000 a year. She curiously calculated her scholarship into the estimate and the total was still over $20,000. She had known it was going to be expensive but had not really thought about the costs until now. Her parents knew they would have to rely on student loans when the time came for their children to go off to school. Layla’s family was middle class and lived paycheck to paycheck. They had not been able to afford a school savings account. Layla was looking at having to get government school loans and applying for a student line of credit at her local bank. The thought of having close to $100,000 in debt by the time she completed her degree in 4 years was crushing. She thought of her dreams of doing her masters and eventually applying to medical school. This fantastical dream seemed utterly unattainable. The next week would bring some difficult family financial discussions.

Layla had until the end of the month to accept her offer at the University. In the weeks to come, she and her family sat down and had frank discussions about how they could ensure her first year was paid for. They attended a bank appointment and she was approved for a $50,000 student line of credit. They were pretty sure this would cover her first 2 years but were unsure what they would do for the remaining years of her education. They discovered that student loans through the government would award her $10,000 each year so that would also cover a big chunk. Still, the thought of accumulating all this debt was daunting. Layla decided that she would have to look for a part-time job during the school year to help cover her living costs. She planned on applying for every school bursary and scholarship available and her parents figured they would also be able to contribute $200/month toward Layla’s residence fees. Layla spent the next 3 weeks searching for full time summer employment. She could make $4800 over July and August if she found a good job. Still, the thought of how she would afford school beyond the first 2 years was scary for her. She tried not to think about it and thought it might be best to just focus on one year at a time.

The week before the acceptance letter was due, Layla and her father went to the store to buy some chips and pop for their family movie night. While at the store, Layla’s dad noticed the Lotto Max lottery was up to 50 million dollars. He was a regular lottery player, often winning free tickets. He had won $50 about 5 years ago, but that was the extent of his lottery luck. While standing in line waiting to pay, Layla’s father said jokingly, “Layla you are old enough now to buy your own lottery ticket! Do you have a spare $6 to play?” Layla looked at her dad. “I don’t think so! Besides, the odds are 1 in over 20 million that anyone could win! It’s not worth it”. Layla’s father chuckled. “Ya well, you have as much of a chance as anyone else to win.” When they reached the attendant to pay for their food, Layla’s dad bought two lottery tickets and gave one to Layla. “Here, this one is yours. Maybe you’ll have the luck in the family.” Layla laughed and put the lottery ticket in her purse, grabbed the bag of goodies and walked out of the store.

A week later, Layla was at the local coffee shop with her laptop using the wifi. She was about to send in her acceptance to the university but the thought of the expenses was still overwhelming. She considered deferring her acceptance and spending a gap year working full time to save. Many students did this. She figured she could probably save $25,000 in one year and that would go a long way in paying for school. She hadn’t discussed this option with her parents yet, but this seemed to be the wisest thing to do. The thought saddened Layla as she was very much looking forward to her University experience. She decided she would go home and have one last discussion with her parents before the acceptance date. As Layla went to the counter to pay for her coffee, she stumbled through her purse looking for $2.00. As she discovered the change in one of the side pockets, she came across the lottery ticket her father had bought for her the week before. She paid for her coffee and sat back down at her table, with the ticket in her hand and packed up her laptop in her bag. She thought it was silly but she pulled out her phone, downloaded the lottery app and scanned her ticket. Suddenly, her phone began chiming the Congratulations tune and Layla expected that she had won a free ticket. Just hearing the tune was somewhat exciting. She glanced closer at her ticket and saw a 5 with several zero’s following. The writing on her phone was small, but it had appeared she had won $5000. She could feel her heartbeat in her chest and her mind began to think of all the possible things she could use the money for. She immediately called her dad and said “Dad, I think I just won $5000 on the lottery ticket you bought me”. Her dad’s voice trembled a little. “Take it to the corner store and get them to validate your winnings then call me back.” Layla quickly hung up, thinking this was the most exciting thing that had ever happened to her!

Layla walked swiftly to the corner store which was only 2 blocks away from the coffee shop. There was no one else in the store so she went immediately up to the counter, looked at the elderly attendant, and said “I think I won something on my ticket.” The attendant smiled. “Well let’s just see.” he said. He handed her a pen and asked her to sign the back of the ticket and then he scanned it at the lottery terminal. The terminal sang the Congratulations tune and announced in a woman’s computerized voice, “Winner”! Layla looked around the empty store and looked back at the attendant. She was absolutely thrilled with the thought of having $5000 to put towards her school fund. The attendant had a shocked look on his face and his lip began to quiver. “Ma’am it appears you are a big winner. You have won the jackpot! It says you won $50 million dollars!” Layla was shocked. She looked at the man and he turned the terminal screen for her to see the winning amount. She started to shake with disbelief and quickly became a little light headed. “Oh my God! This is my first time ever playing the lottery! I can’t believe it!” The attendant told her he had to make a phone call to the Lottery Corporation for verification. Layla immediately got out her phone and called her dad. “Dad, I need you to come pick me up. I didn’t just win $5000, I won 50 million!”

Layla accepted her University offer the very next day. She went on to complete medical school and now is a practicing doctor in the city of Ottawa.

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