A junior at Gonzaga University from East Wenatchee, Washington...

Amanda Walker

What categories are you hoping to see today?
Uh, well, one of my favorite categories is when they do the BEFORE & AFTERs--they're just so entertaining sometimes. Like one that came up at my try-out was "Who is Larry Bird of Prey?" and I thought that was so clever. It lightens the mood of the Jeopardy! board and it kind of emphasizes the whole thing about Jeopardy! having such a variety--it runs the gamut of everything.

What makes a great Jeopardy! player?
Yeah, I think a good Jeopardy! player, you have to be, uh, quick on--quick on your trigger finger with the buzzer, you've got to be able to ring in on time, and just having a really broad spectrum of knowledge. Like, you don't have to know, like, you know, everything about every subject, but just having just a little bit of knowledge in a whole bunch of different categories that some people deem useless but they're very useful on Jeopardy!

What is your major?
I'm majoring in journalism.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Well, depending on how the Jeopardy! thing goes, if I were to win all the money, I think ten years from now I'd love to see myself doing some sort of pastry chef thing, like even though I'm getting a degree in journalism, I think it would just be a kick to be a baker, and, you know, if I had the luxury to do that I just might.

Are there any Jeopardy! contestants in particular that you look up to?
Well, yeah, I do, I have watched a lot of Jeopardy! players over the years, and I really admired Ken Jennings, not just because of his just amazing prowess for the game, playing 75 games, but that he had such a good attitude about it, you know, I really like people that have just this fun, light-hearted attitude--"It's a game, I'm having fun, I'm smiling"--and I think he had that, and I really admired that.

What's the biggest thing you'll be taking away from this experience?
Gosh, taking away from this today, probably with my college friend it'll probably be some, some good bragging rights. I think they'll, really, I mean, I think the fame more than the money, it's some of the thing about Jeopardy!, the notoriety you get, it's just... anybody that loves trivia... it's so much fun to be on Jeopardy! and it's a real... I don't know... it's a real honor... and something that you can think of all your life. "I was on Jeopardy!" And I just think that's awesome.

If you win the $100,000 what will you do with it?
Uh, if I won a lot of money, I might just take off and do something crazy, like go to culinary school and get my pastry chef certificate, or just pay off some student loans... the quintessential answer, everybody needs to do that. And, I don't know, maybe make a down payment on a cute little Volkswagen Beetle or something.

Do you have anyone you'd like to say hi to?
I'd like to say hi to my college bowl team--What About Garfunkle?

2005 College Championship wildcard semifinalist: $10,000.

Jeopardy! Message Board user name: FiftiesGirl

Not to be confused with Season 38 player Mandy Walker.

Amanda won $11,500 on $100,000 Pyramid on 2023-10-18.

Amanda appeared in the following 2 archived games:
#4871, aired 2005-11-14 Amanda Walker vs. Jayanth Iyengar vs. Antonia Wang 2005 College Championship semifinal game 1. From the RBC Center...
#4868, aired 2005-11-09 Peter Ellis vs. Ben Goldman vs. Amanda Walker 2005 College Championship quarterfinal game 3. From the RBC Center...

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