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MU student buzzes onto College Championship 'Jeopardy!'

By Kelly Gehringer

Published Feb. 5, 2010

Some second graders grow up wanting to be astronauts, doctors or firefighters. Lindsay Eanet knew she wanted to be on “Jeopardy!.”

Every day after school, she would rush home at 3:30 p.m. for the game show packed with trivia that bewildered her mind yet captivated her curiosity.

Eanet, a former MOVE editor, is now a senior in the School of Journalism, and her childhood dreams have become a reality.

"We had sixth grade buddies in second grade, and they had to make a book about us," Eanet said. "Mine was all about “Jeopardy!.”

She applied to be a contestant her sophomore and junior year and did not get a spot, though she came very close. The third time was a charm for Eanet when she took the 50-question College Championship test last fall.

"The quiz questions are a lot harder than the actual questions on the show," Eanet said. "The hard part is only having seven seconds to respond!"

“Jeopardy!,” also known as "America's favorite quiz show" according to the U.S. patent and trademark office, maintains 9 million daily viewers. In October, Eanet found out she had made it to next step and headed home to Chicago for auditions. Along with about 150 of her peers, she took the re-test and participated in a mock game and brief interview.

"They really wanted to test your ability to buzz in and stage presence skills," Eanet said. "Your response to getting a question wrong definitely matters."

The first week in December, Eanet had an unexpected message on her voicemail. It was Maggie Speak, the “Jeopardy!” contestant producer, telling Eanet she had been accepted as a contestant on the show and would be flown to Los Angeles in January for taping.

"You know that scene in the movie 'Little Miss Sunshine' when the little girl finds out she made it into the pageant?" Eanet said. "Yeah, it was pretty much that scene."

Speak said she has been with the show for more than a decade and the College Championship is her favorite part.

"Here you have young men and women who are bright and interested in all different kinds of things," Speak said in an e-mail. "They get a chance to play against college students just like them, so the camaraderie is great."

Once accepted onto the show, Eanet did not really change up her routine at all. She continued to watch the show every day, except with a pen that she could use to click as a faux buzzer. Reading and taking quizzes on sporcle.com were other ways she kept her wit up to pace while preparing.

The categories range from pop culture and wordplay to science and history, so there was a lot of ground to cover. Eanet admitted pop culture and wordplay were definitely her strengths.

"I think 80 percent of kids at the College Championship know the answer," Eanet said. "It's more about buzzing in."

Eanet also said her major helped out in a way because journalism majors make extra effort to be informed, read and constantly educate themselves.

There were 15 total contestants from across the country, including University of Minnesota, Brown, Columbia and Dartmouth universities.

"All of the competition was really friendly," Eanet said. "It was a great dynamic and everyone was always supportive."

As for Alex Trebek, Eanet said he is pretty much the same on-air Alex with that dry sense of humor.

"What you see is what you get," she said.

Eanet also left an impact on the set of “Jeopardy!.”

"Lindsay Eanet is one of my all time favorite college players, and I look forward to see what she ends up doing with such smarts and personality, not to mention beauty," Speak said in an e-mail.

So what does Eanet's future look like? Because she is no longer eligible to be on the show, it's back to the reality of being a college senior. Somewhere down the road she aims to be a part of the “Jeopardy!” Clue Crew, filming Daily Doubles. Don't miss the chance to see Eanet compete on “Jeopardy!” at 5 p.m. Friday on KMIZ/Channel 17.