WHAT IF YOU COULD BE ON A SHOW you’d watched since you were 10 years old?
That’s exactly what happened to Jim Coury who appeared on “Jeopardy!.” And as if that wasn’t cool enough the Georgetown University student took home $100,000 in the 2013 College Championship tournament in Culver City Calif. as well as a chance to compete in the “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions.
The School of Foreign Service sophomore (class of 2015) who is majoring in international political economy says he’ll use his winnings to travel to the Middle East and to pay for the education that helped him win.
Although Coury credits his major with the knowledge that got him through the current affairs and geography questions he felt ill-prepared for questions about movies and TV shows. He had also hoped there would be more questions about literature and economics which are two of his stronger subjects.
“I’ve always loved watching the show and playing trivia games,” says Coury “so getting on the show has been a dream of mine for quite a long time.” Despite the desire to be on “Jeopardy!” since he was in grade school Coury didn’t make the cut when he took the online audition test for the kids tournament … or the teen tournament. But a year in college helped: after one year at Georgetown the 20-year-old took the online audition test again and made the cut on his first try.The bigger “cut” included passing a 50-question online test and attending regional auditions that included another 50-question test a brief interview and a mock game.
As for his competition, Coury had nothing but great things to say. “They were all obviously very intelligent and … great to spend time with,” he says of the other 14 college students. “Even though we were competing against each other everyone was always very positive and encouraging. I was so excited to be able to represent Georgetown on the show against some other great schools.”
But don’t feel sorry for his final two competitors. First runner up Trevor Walker from MIT took home an impressive $50,000 and Kristen Jolley of Georgia Tech received $25,000.
As host Alex Trebek points out the College Championship is about more than personal glory and prize money. “[It] provides a special blend of intense competition and school pride,” explains Trebek. “They play as representatives of their college and its alumni.”
Coury agrees and explains why sometimes the large cash prize almost feels secondary to the win. “I was really focused on answering the questions and winning the game so I sort of forgot about the prize until Alex Trebek mentioned it at the end,” he explains. “Then I started shaking with excitement and relief.”
Congratulations Jim on fulfilling a 10-year dream!
