A senior from Michigan State University...

Courtney Trezise

Do you think your major will give you an advantage in the College Championship?
Uh, I'm majoring in international relations and Spanish, and I'm hoping maybe the international relations part'll help me out, 'cause I know there's often categories about world leaders, so... we'll see.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Well, in ten years, uh, I would love to be working for a government agency doing environmental policy, so...

Do you remember how old you were when you first starting watching Jeopardy!?
Oh, gosh, when I first started watching Jeopardy!? I've been watching with my dad for years, so probably 10, 12.

What will you do with your winnings?
If I win money today, um, I would love to take a trip to go see the World Cup coming up in 2009, or, um, maybe go back to Spain where I studied abroad, so...

Show your school spirit and tune in!

2009 College Championship quarterfinalist: $5,000.

21 and from Okemos, Michigan at the time of the College Championship.

Last name pronounced like "truh-SAHZ".

Courtney Trezise Blog Entry 3
May 11, 2009

Even though I didn't end up making the semifinals, the game was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to play, especially while representing my school. I can't thank everyone enough for giving me this opportunity and making the experience so enjoyable, especially Maggie, Robert, Corinna, and Glen! I hope you'll all watch me on May 5th, and GO GREEN!


Courtney Trezise Blog Entry 2
May 6, 2009

After a relaxing day off which I spent exploring L.A. with my sister, today was the first day of filming. What a rush! We got picked up bright and early at the hotel and took a bus over to the studio. This was my first time seeing most of the other contestants and it was fun meeting everyone and seeing which schools were represented. When we got to the studios we started going one by one to get our makeup done before shooting some promos. It was SO nice to have someone else do my makeup for a change! She did a wonderful job and I felt great as I went on camera for the first time. The promos were so goofy…we had to say silly things like "Bring it!” and "Wrong!” (with attitude, of course!). Throughout this process we had a lot of down time to chat in the green room. My fellow contestants are all fantastic people and we had a great time joking around and comparing our interview process. Finally, the time came for our practice games. Figuring out the timing on the buzzer took a little while- it's harder than you think! The practice games passed quickly and all too soon we were being ushered back into the green room to await our call for the taping! All in all, it was a fun, laid-back morning with a lot of great people.

After the 2 rehearsal games, I was pretty psyched to get out on the stage for real. However, we had to wait to be called. When Robert entered to call off the names for the first show I actually felt my first shot of nervousness! As it turns out I wasn't called first, so I had some time to kill watching Mean Girls in the green room with the other contestants. After about half an hour Robert came back in and this time my name was called. I was feeling good after a quick touch-up and I walked calmly out into the studio. I spotted my dad and sister who were in the audience to support me, gave them a quick wave, and stepped onto my podium. Then I heard them call 30 seconds. Suddenly I was hit with a wave of nerves and a thousand thoughts went through my head at once. Do I look ok? What if I say something stupid? Omigosh, millions of people are going to see this! Alex Trebek is going to be RIGHT THERE! Luckily I only felt overwhelmed for a few seconds and after taking a deep breath I got it under control and was ready to play. One interesting and unexpected detail is that when Alex Trebek came out from behind the game board while cameras rolled it was the very first time I saw him in person! For some reason I expected he might come introduce himself beforehand but that was not the case. I didn't have much time to think about that, however, because the game started right away. The actual game seems like a complete blur now! I felt like the whole thing was over in maybe 2 minutes! I can't even remember a lot of the categories we had. Looking back, the only thing I regret was not being more gutsy in Final Jeopardy! I wasn't sure about the category so I only wagered a little, but I ended up getting it right! Oh well, hindsight is 20/20, right?


Courtney Trezise Blog Entry 1
May 4, 2009

Hi everyone! My name is Courtney Trezise and I'm a senior at Michigan State University. Go Green! I'm going to graduate after my 5th year (or the "victory lap" as I like to call it) with a degree in International Relations and Spanish, and a specialization in Environmental Policy. If I can combine all those interests into a job one day, that would be fantastic. My current thought is to work for the government collaborating on environmental policy with the countries of the Americas. We'll see how I feel about that idea after my government internship this summer!

Outside of the classroom my favorite things to do are play soccer and play the piano. I have played with an intramural soccer team during all 4 of my years here and it's a blast. I don't get to play as much piano as I used to, but it's still my favorite way to relieve stress just like it has been for the last 15 years. I'm also a diehard Spartan fan so you can be sure if there's football or basketball on, I'm cheering my team to victory. Seeing the basketball team get to the national championship game this year was pretty awesome!

When I got the call that I was going to be on the show, I couldn't believe it was really happening. It had been several months since the in-person tryouts in Chicago and I thought for sure they had already picked the contestants. I actually didn't answer the call the first time because I was on the other line and I didn't recognize the area code! But when the same number called a few hours later I decided to take it. I was on my way to meet my freshman year roommate and her family for dinner when it happened, so I ended up sitting in the parking lot of the restaurant writing down information and generally freaking out about the fact that I was going to be on Jeopardy! As it turned out, my roommate's family found out about it before my own family did!

Now I'm getting ready to head out to LA for the taping and I'm super excited. I haven't really done anything to prepare for the show, just looking up a few random things on Wikipedia and watching the show as much as I can. I'm planning on just going in with a good attitude and having fun. Who knows, maybe I'll win some money while I'm at it! In any case, I am very excited to represent my school and I can't wait to find out what it's like to be on Jeopardy!

Courtney appeared in the following archived game:
#5687, aired 2009-05-05 Kadeem Cooper vs. Scott Menke vs. Courtney Trezise 2009 College Championship quarterfinal game 2.

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