21-Year-Old Plans to
Use Money to Help Mom, Travel
Twenty-one-year-old Michael Sanchez of Hicksville is the new millionaire-on-campus at Nassau Community College where he’s enrolled as a liberal arts major with dreams of becoming a nurse. The El Salvador native is Long Island’s first-ever $1,000,000 winner on the New York Lottery’s new Sweet Million draw game.
Sanchez said he’s excited about his win, but doesn’t think his new millionaire status will go to his head. “My brother has taught me a lot about the ups and downs in life,” he said. “He told me not to go crazy, to enjoy the little things and just be happy.”
With that advice in mind, Sanchez said his plans for his $1 million cash prize were practical, for the most part. “Winning the lottery has given me the opportunity to do the things I would not have otherwise been able to do, like help out my mom (with the mortgage) and visit Mexico to see the ruins,” he said, adding, “I don’t want to focus on materials things.”
Sanchez purchased his $1 million winning Sweet Million ticket on Oct. 5 during a routine stop for gas at the Joe Fuel store on Newbridge Road in Hicksville. The winning numbers for the Oct. 5 Sweet Million drawing were 7, 19, 22, 24, 34 and 35.
Sanchez, a regular instant ticket player, said there was something about the ads for the Sweet Million jackpot game that made him want to try something new. “I’m a cat lover,” he said. “The Sweet Million ads have lots of cats in them. That’s really why I decided to play.”
Sanchez claimed his $1 million winning ticket Oct. 6 at the Lottery’s Customer Service Center in Garden City. He will receive his prize as a one-time, net payment totaling $660,300.
