What happened when you found out you were going to be a contestant?
As far as my experience so far goes, obviously I had to sign up for an audition, first of all, and I found out that I got one in Nashville, which was the closest one to me. And the only bad thing about that was that it was the only weekend available for my birthday party. So, instead of partying with my friends, I ended up auditioning for Jeopardy! But, I felt okay about it, and I really felt great about missing my birthday party when I woke up one morning during fall break--I got woken up by my mom, who was holding a FedEx envelope in her hand. She asked me to open it--I did--half asleep of course. And then, when I read the first few sentences of the letter, saying that I made it on Jeopardy!, that I was going to be on the show, I immediately woke up to that, and since then it's been a lot of fun getting ready.
What are you most excited about today?
Right now what I'm most looking forward to is getting to meet Alex. A lot of my friends are really big fans of his, and this is a lot of fun--getting to meet somebody you've seen on TV all these times.
If you had a "dream Jeopardy! category," what would it be?
My dream categories would have to do with ASTRONOMY or possibly CLASSICAL MUSIC.
How did you prepare for today?
As far as preparing goes, I'm a member of my school's scholar's bowl team. So going to practice and competitions for that has been an excellent way to prepare and get used to buzzers and such. I've also watched the show almost every night that I can, and I've played the online game several times.
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Ten years from now, I'm going to be on my way to completing a degree in astrophysics and possibly doing research for universities or government organizations like NASA.
Do you have a particular role model?
As strange as it sounds, my role models are the Monty Python guys, especially Michael Palin. |
