Just before her name was called, Julie Graham turned to her friend and said she doesn't win these kinds of things. The 17-year-old was referring to the grand finale prize in a random draw at the New Westminster Secondary School dry grad event last month.
"And the minute I said that, my name was called," recalls Julie, who is now the proud owner of a white 1997 Audi A6 AWD Wagon, which was generously donated by Key West Ford to the high school's dry grad event.
After she won the coveted prize, Julie sat down, and her win sunk in. She absorbed the realization and thought, "I have a car."
Her next thought was to call her mom, who happens to be local school trustee Lisa Graham.
"She thought I was calling for her to come pick me up," Julie says.
But Graham's days of driving Julie will soon be behind her now that her daughter has some hot white wheels to tour town in. The only problem: Julie doesn't have her learner's licence yet. But the new car has been a wonderful motivation.
"I'm hoping to get it before the end of July," Julie says about her learner's.
Julie loves the new car - especially the sunroof - and says she has no plans to sell it.
As for her future goals, Julie wants to be a high school teacher. This fall, she'll start at Douglas College, and she earned a bursary from the Retired Teachers' Fund.
The dry grad event - called Carnival Chaos - was a huge success. Three hundred students and 50-plus volunteers attended the event, which was sponsored by many local businesses and community service groups. It was held at the newly opened Queensborough Community Centre, Debbie Wardle, one of the grad parent volunteers, wrote in an email to The Record.
