My Jeopardy! Story: The Beginning

I am a trivia brainiac, and it has been a life dream of mine to appear on Jeopardy! (The exclamation point is part of the title--I'm not adding it just for fun.) I watched the show all the time as a kid, and I would read through Trivial Pursuit cards and take online trivia quizzes in my spare time, read websites that would give me tidbits of information. Clearly, I am known as a nerd to all my friends. Every year, Jeopardy! has an online test available to all adults in order to select show contestants. If you pass the test (and you are not told the results), you are then eligible to travel from the audition, and from the audition to the show. Last year, I participated in the online test but never heard anything back. The online test is 50 questions from random categories. You don't have to answer in the form of a question, wrong answers are not counted against you, and spelling doesn't matter too much as long as it is close. I took the test again in April, and this time they posted answers to the test on facebook the next day. I thought I had done pretty well on the test, but after looking at the answers I realized I didn't. I did not think I would hear from anyone at the show at all. In mid-May, I received an email stating that I had been selected to come to the audition. I couldn't believe it! The unlikely was becoming very likely. I spent the rest of May and June reading through Trivial Pursuit cards. At the end of June, I was on a plane toward the next step in seeing one of my life dreams come true.

 70,000 people take the online test. 2500-3000 are called for auditions. 400 are brought to the show. The odds were never in my favor, and I had my work cut out for me, but the twisted side of me likes beating the odds. Here we go!

 Update: If you have ever thought about being a contestant on Jeopardy, you can! Like their facebook page or sign up for updates on their site. They will notify you when registration for the online test is open. Sign up and enjoy the journey! 

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