Despite receiving the information that she would be competing in the Jeopardy! National College Championship in October 2021, Lucy Greenman ’22 was only able to announce the news to her friends and family last week. Greenman secretly left campus the week before Thanksgiving to film her episode in Los Angeles. The Jeopardy! National College Championship will premiere on Feb. 8, with her episode airing Feb. 15.
“They didn’t want me to tell anyone,” Greenman said. “So I didn’t tell my roommates. I didn’t tell my professors. I had to tell my parents because I needed to sleep at home the night before my flight.”
“They didn’t want me to tell anyone,” Greenman said. “So I didn’t tell my roommates. I didn’t tell my professors. I had to tell my parents because I needed to sleep at home the night before my flight.”
Greenman grew up watching Jeopardy! with her family, and began applying to the show each year when she entered college. It was not until fall of her junior year — her third time applying to the college championship — that she was invited to the next round. Greenman underwent another online test and then a live Zoom game after that. Seven months later, she received the good news.
“I was really trying to just suppress my excitement until anything was guaranteed, which took a long time,” Greenman said. “I could finally let myself believe it, and I was super excited. I honestly couldn’t believe it. Like, I just kept sort of telling myself in my head.”
Greenman said that when she was finally able to tell her friends and family, it was a very special moment.
“It’s a huge deal for them,” Greenman said about her family. “Especially for my grandma who watches it every single night … she’s very excited and it’s her birthday this month, so it’s like a birthday present for her.”
Hosted by Mayim Bialik, the college championship features 36 undergraduate students representing 36 different universities across the country. Greenman’s episode, which she says was one of the last to be filmed, will feature her going head-to-head with Kennesaw State University’s Raymond Goslow and NYU’s Jeric Brual.
“I happened to be just one of the last games that was taped, so I got to see a lot of rehearsals and know what to expect,” Greenman said. “They told us to prepare to be there for six days … even if you won everything and you made it to the very last game, you could still be home for Thanksgiving.”
Greenman says the best part about this experience was making connections with the other contestants.
“We have a group chat; we talk all the time, we’ve already zoomed like twice, and yeah, they’re awesome, awesome people,” Greenman said. “I think honestly, the coolest part about it was just meeting this sample of people who were my age from all over the country, and it was sort of wild. Like how similar our lives were, just because we are all going through like the pandemic and we all like, listen to some of the same music and have lived through the same major political events in recent years.”
“We have a group chat; we talk all the time, we’ve already zoomed like twice, and yeah, they’re awesome, awesome people,” Greenman said. “I think honestly, the coolest part about it was just meeting this sample of people who were my age from all over the country, and it was sort of wild. Like how similar our lives were, just because we are all going through like the pandemic and we all like, listen to some of the same music and have lived through the same major political events in recent years.”
Only having approximately eight weeks to study for the show, Greenman bought an online study guide and watched old episodes to prepare. Even though her roommate did not know she was going on the show, Greenman says she still helped her study.
“So my roommate would read me the questions and quiz me on those games,” Greenman said. “She had no idea why she was doing it either, because I hadn’t told anyone. She was such a good sport.”
In preparation for the taping of her episode, Greenman did a rehearsal taping and a whole day dedicated to practicing with the hair and makeup team. She also had to try on the College of William and Mary sweatshirt the production team bought her, as well as have her pants approved.
“When we were actually taping, it felt very different than the rehearsal,” Greenman said. “Honestly, my mind is blank. As soon as I finished it, my family was asking me ‘Oh, did you answer a bunch of questions?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know, I have no idea what happened.’ There’s just a lot of input: you’re trying to watch the board, you’re trying to do the buzzer on time, you’re trying to be aware of how much money you have and the other contestants have. And I was really nervous about the part where you talk about yourself after the commercial break.”
At the College, Greenman is a self-designed health analytics major and is minoring in gender, sexuality, and women’s studies. She is the vice president of VOX, a reproductive rights group on campus, and also teaches at a Hebrew school in Williamsburg.
After graduation, Greenman plans to attend nursing school where she hopes to specialize in maternal and postpartum care.
