Walker ’10 to appear on ‘Jeopardy!’
Courtesy Of Jeopardy.Com
When it comes to lucrative part-time jobs, Ashley Walker ’10 may have hit the jackpot.
While studying for finals in the stacks this fall, Walker saw that she had missed a call from an out-of-state number. Although she initially assumed it was from a telemarketer, that call turned out to be an invitation to appear on the “Jeopardy!” college championship.
"But then I had to return to studying because it was right at the beginning of finals,” Walker said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
Walker said she had previously applied to be a contestant on both the adult and college “Jeopardy!” shows. She took an online test and was later selected for an in-person interview in Boston.
“I didn’t really expect it to go anywhere,” she said. “It worked out, so that was exciting.”
Walker said she has been preparing by watching previous episodes of “Jeopardy!” and studying Wikipedia, along with reviewing history and science books.
“You never know what’s going to be on,” she said. “You just study as much as you can and hope it works out in those 30 minutes.”
Studying arcane trivia, however, is nothing new for Walker, who is a member of Dartmouth’s College Bowl team.
“I’d already been interested in this sort of academic trivia thing,” she said.
Contestants often encounter difficulties when they ring in to answer a question, Walker said. By ringing in too early, a contestant is locked out of a question, making it important to wait until the final word is read aloud.
“I’ve been watching [the show] and trying to prime myself for the end of the question,” she said.
Walker said she has watched the show with her family since she “was a kid,” though not religiously.
The championship, to be taped during the first week of January, will not air until February.
“I’m technically not supposed to tell anyone about how I did,” Walker said.