First the alum won the $100 raffle ticket, then came the big prize

When Ted Myers won a ticket for the Health and Wealth raffle from a noontime radio show, his mother told him he was going to win big. Her prophecy proved true when the 22-year-old ASU alumnus found out he won the raffle's grand prize last Thursday, valued at more than $1 million. "Pretty much overnight my whole life changed completely," said Myers, a 2007 media management graduate. Though Myers said becoming a millionaire was overwhelming, he is trying to be smart with his new money. Since winning, Myers said he has been thinking about future investments but isn't planning on quitting his job as an account executive with the Phoenix New Times. The prize package gave him a new Mercedes ML320 CDI and his choice of a house or its cash value. Myers chose the cash. "I'm not going to go and blow it," he said of his prize money. The money comes at a convenient time, said Myers, who has been thinking about going back to school for a master's degree and is also recording an album with his rock band, Faucet. "It just seems like everything got a whole lot easier," Myers said. The same day he received the phone call telling him he won, Myers was planning to take out a $10,000 cash advance on his credit card to help pay recording costs. He has been playing drums with his band since high school and said his band mates are confident he will manage the money wisely. "They all think they're guaranteed to be rich and famous now," said Myers, adding that his own childhood dream to be a rock star has never died. Shirley Myers, Ted's mother, said if anyone deserved to win, it was her son. Music is his passion, but he brings dedication to everything he does, she said. In addition to his job at the New Times, Myers works at Jobing.com Arena and the University of Phoenix Stadium to pay off student loans and car repairs. "He's a really hard worker," his mother said. The last few days have been filled with media attention and appearances, but Shirley Myers said her son has stayed down-to-earth. She said Ted Myers, a private person, wanted to help spread the word about St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, which benefits from the ticket sales. Though this is Ted's first year entering the raffle, he said he would make it a tradition. "I think I owe it (to the hospital)," he said. "I'll do it every year from now on." The raffle, which just finished its 10th drawing, sold 140,000 tickets this spring and is projected to raise $4 million, said raffle manager Kathy Rice. "It's unique in the fact that it raises a tremendous amount of money in a short amount of time," Rice said. Each ticket costs $100, and the money, after the cost of buying prizes is factored in, goes to support research, patient care and medical education at St. Joseph's and the Barrow Neurological Institute. "The raffle really appeals to everybody," Rice said. "Even if they don't win, they know it's going to something incredible." Reach the reporter at: claudia.koerner@asu.edu.