November 2, 2005
Purdue student to appear on 'Jeopardy' College Championship
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University student Antonia Wang will appear on the upcoming "Jeopardy" College Championship to air Nov. 7-18 on WLFI and WTHR.
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She was one of 15 college students who competed in the championship, which was previously taped at North Carolina State University. The first-place winner gets a minimum of $100,000, the second-place winner will receive a minimum of $50,000 and the third-place winner gets a minimum of $25,000.
This will be Wang's first appearance on "Jeopardy," but not her first attempt to make the show. Two years ago, she took a mini pre-test during a regular adult contestant search at the Indiana State Fair. Only 17 at the time, she had hoped to make it on the show's teen tournament. All the spots on the teen tournament had been filled, yet she did not give up her goal of being a "Jeopardy" contestant.
"I saw that they were doing contestant searches again this summer and decided to give it another shot," said Wang, a sophomore from Carmel, Ind., who has not yet decided on a major. "Only this time, the closest place was a five-hour drive to Cleveland, but I thought it would be worth it."
She was right. It wasn't long before she came home to a message from the show.
"I was very nervous when I called them back, especially when they started asking questions that apparently I forgot to answer at the audition," Wang said. "They got to the final question and asked if I had ever been on another TV show. I answered no, and they told me they wanted to change it, because they wanted me to appear on 'Jeopardy.'"
She told a few close friends and her family, and before long, the word had spread. As the news sank in, Wang started thinking about what she would do if she won any money, such as traveling or shopping for shoes and gloves, her favorite items to splurge on.
With the plan to practice for the buzzer, she borrowed a friend's video games. But she never got around to playing them. Even without the practice, Wang said she was confident about doing well with history and movie questions – and hoped she would not have to contend with any questions about popular music or spelling.
When Wang did get to compete, she was surprised she was so calm.
"I didn't have as many butterflies in my stomach as I had thought but unfortunately, my buzzer hand shook a lot," she said.
While Wang knows how the championship turned out, she is under strict rules to not tell anyone – even her family and friends.
Still, she's looking forward to the competition airing on television.
"I haven't made any special viewing plans," Wang said. "Actually, I will be taking an exam on the night of my show."
Writer: Christy Jones, (765) 494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu
Source: Antonia Wang, wangt@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
PHOTO CAPTION
Purdue University sophomore Antonia Wang stands next to Alex Trebek at the 2005 Jeopardy College Championship airing Nov. 7-18 on WLFI in Lafayette and WTHR in Indianapolis. Wang is a computer science major from Carmel, Ind. (Photo/Jeopardy! Productions Inc.)
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