I was a painfully shy sixth-grader when I walked into my first Jeopardy! audition. By my third, I had decided to have as much fun as I could. That’s probably why I told the interviewer that Tim Hortons hot chocolate runs in my veins after a kid from Toronto said the franchise was overrated during his interview. I think that’s what nabbed me my spot on the show.
I was at UB Math when Sony Studios called my house; when my parents told me about it, I was overjoyed. It all felt very surreal—never in my wildest dreams had I thought I would actually get on the show. To prepare, I studied the subjects I was weak on—the Bible, Greek mythology, art history, classical music. In early March, when my family and I flew to LA, I was still a little nervous.
The morning of the first taping, all of the teens were packed into a bus-limousine hybrid and shuttled to Sony Studios. Everyone was very happy to be there—one girl was crying tears of joy. One of the contestants—13-year old Texan William Golden—is the youngest person to ever appear on the Teen Tournament. Among our ranks are a published novelist and clarinetist who has performed in Carnegie Hall. Those of us who have graduated are now attending MIT, Yale, Northeastern, and Rice. To be included in their ranks is still a little surreal.
The set of Jeopardy! was larger than I expected—it looks sleeker than it does on TV. It can host about 100 people; our audience was made up of proud families and some elementary-schoolers on a field trip. Before our show, they had us pose and act out scenes for the promotional videos and practice with the buzzer. They also put makeup on us. To keep the scores a secret until it was our turn, we had to wait to be taped in a sequestered room where The Dark Knight was playing at full volume. While we waited, we chatted about quiz bowl and other shared interests. I mostly talked about anime with a girl named Sydney and had an awesome conversation about comic books with our chaperone, who was an avid fan when she was a kid.
Seeing Alex Trebek was one of the strangest experiences I’ve ever had—he looks exactly the same in person. Though I didn’t talk to him much, he seemed nice. Competing was really fun; though I lost in the first round of the tournament, I’m proud of my performance. All in all, it was one of the best experiences of my life.
By Ananya Nrusimha
