2021 Gumbo final - Book - Page 181
181
hunter
“Alex Trebek died dude! He’s been the host of Jeopardy! for 36 years. That’s a lot of
seasons and he’s the face of Jeopardy!. I don’t know what they’re going to do. Jeopardy!
is a TV staple, and Alex Trebek is equally a staple of the show. I don’t think television will
be the same without him, certainly not my viewing experience. He’s the quintessential
gameshow host to me. He’s not over the top but he’s really funny. He’ll roast the hell
out of contestants if they get something wrong that’s easy. Part of me doesn’t want the
show to go on, but it’s such an important show! I’ve always been one to enjoy random
trivia. Literally one of the things I was talking to one of my roommates about is the
definition of a ‘second’. It’s based off of a nine billion some-odd number of oscillations
of the last electron on a Cesium 133 atom. No one needs to know that kind of stuff but
it’s in my brain for some reason. I watch a lot of YouTube videos and Jeopardy! a bit.
I’d watch bits and pieces of it, an episode here and there. It wasn’t until sophomore
year of high school when I really started making it part of my routine. I just kind of fell
in love with challenging myself and seeing how much money I could win. It was really
gratifying to do the math and realize I could beat these adult contestants. I auditioned
for Jeopardy! this year and last year. Last year it worked out better in my favor. I had to
take an online test, and it was fifty questions. You had fifteen seconds to answer them,
kind of how it is on the show. I think you had to get 35/50 to get selected to be put
into the pool for the audition. I have no idea how many people took the test, but I’m
considering myself lucky that I got picked to go audition in person. I drove to Austin
and went into some random hotel. The Jeopardy! producers were there and maybe
about fifty other people. We had to do another test. I think I did well but I was upset!
They had a question and the answer was ‘Vine’. I got it wrong, but I used to go on Vine
religiously when I was thirteen. I was shocked! The hardest questions for me were on
sports and African geography. I’m not super well versed in those topics.”