Linza Ford (pictured), a 19-year-old Brooklynite who had to drop out of college and work to help her family makes ends meet, won a $1 million jackpot this week, the New York Daily News reports. She was one of ten New Yorkers who won a share of $13 million in winnings.
Ford had just finished her freshman year at Hofstra University when her father had to go on disability, forcing her family to make tough choices. “I didn’t want to leave,” she said. “That’s one of the colleges I really wanted to go to. I was sobbing.”
But her fortunes changed when she purchased a Million Dollar Scratch ticket at Prabhu Grocery Store near her Bensonhurst home last month. “I did not believe it. I looked at it, I’m like ‘No, no, not me,’” said Ford, who had been mulling joining the Air Force. “When I finished I went home and I showed my mom. I think she freaked out more than I did.”
A New York Lottery spokesman gave out the ceremonial prizes at the Lottery’s headquarters in Harlem to Ford and nine other new millionaires.
Ford, who was going to school to be a psychology or social work major, says that money will no longer prevent her from earning a college degree.
“I didn’t finish school, but now I can go back,” said Ford, who will receive 20 annual payments of $50,000, or $31,152 after withholding. “I don’t know if I can get financial aid now,” she joked.
article via newsone.com
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