Most students can only daydream about what they would do if they won the lottery. Joseph Aguilar will get to think about it in earnest.

Aguilar, who works part time and is a computer engineering undergraduate at Fresno State, said in a Sept. 25 press release that the $100,000 he won from the California Lotto will help pay for his education.

“It took two days to finally settle in,â€Â Aguilar said of the realization that he had won.

Aguilar bought a $5 Stars & Stripes Scratcher at a Madera gas station after he returned to the cashier to redeem money left over from prepaying for gasoline.

“With gas prices being crazy nowadays, I didn’t know how much [money] I would need to fill up my tank,â€Â he said.

He bought the scratcher with the $5 left over from his gasoline purchase and didn̢۪t even bother to scratch the ticket until he got home.

“If he’d had gas and didn’t have to stop at the station, he wouldn’t have won,â€Â California Lottery spokesman Eric Alborg said in a phone interview Wednesday.

Alborg said $5 scratchers have higher returns than lower denominations. Scratchers have lower payouts than draw games like MEGA Millions do, with $100,000 being the highest amount one can win on a scratcher.

Such wins are not common, Alborg said. The last $100,000 scratcher winner he remembers is “someone in L.A. a little over a month ago.â€Â

The money is paid in a lump sum. No state taxes are taken out, but a 25 percent federal tax does apply. Aguilar will receive a net amount of $75,000.

Rahil Hussain, owner of Madera Valero and Gas, where Aguilar bought the ticket, said, “We’ve given out a $1,000 [ticket] here and there, but never $100,000.â€Â

He said his station sells approximately 15,000 $5, $3 and $2 tickets every month. He said most people buy $3 tickets.

Hussain has seen ticket sales, especially of $5 scratchers, rise since Aguilar’s win. “They’ve gone up across the board, but we do sell more $5 than before,â€Â Hussain said.

Lotto winner Joseph Aguilar could not be reached for comment.