Newswise — When Maggie Brown appeared on the trivia competition game show “Jeopardy!” as a Tate High School student in 2018, it was a thrill she thought she’d only experience once. But for the UWF sophomore, the once in a lifetime opportunity recently turned out to be a twice in a lifetime opportunity.
“About a year and a half ago, they started emailing all of us who were in the high school ‘Jeopardy!’ tournament some questions like what’s your college major, what year are you, where do you go to college now,” Maggie said.
She admits she didn’t think too much about it until October 2022 when she received an email that read ‘Confidential’ with invitation details to reappear on “Jeopardy!” for the high school reunion tournament.
“At first I wasn’t sure if it was real,” Maggie said. “After being on the show once for the high school tournament, we all thought we’d never go back together.”
She and her fellow contestants started talking and realized they had all received the same email. The 27 of them sent texts sharing their excitement in a group chat.
“It was so hard because I couldn’t tell anyone else about it for a couple of months,” she said.
Maggie was flown out to Los Angeles in January where she stayed for six days while filming at Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, California.
“My second experience on the show was even better for me because I was going into it knowing most of the contestants and I was able to get closer to them,” Maggie said.
Maggie, who is double majoring in international studies and art history and is a member of the Kugelman Honors Program, shares her days were mostly filled with filming but she was able to take in an experiential learning opportunity while in California.
“I was actually so lucky to be there at the same time that there was an exhibition featuring East Asian Art at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art,” she said. “I’ve loved art history since middle school.”
Maggie says she has always enjoyed Korean pop music and other aspects of Korean culture. When she graduates she hopes to get a job that allows her to travel or live abroad and possibly become a museum curator.
Maggie’s “Jeopardy!” episode aired on March 2. While she did not advance, she did receive a $5,000 scholarship, a free trip to California and an unforgettable experience.
“It takes a lot of skill, chance and luck,” she said. “Any one of us could have won. The best part is we are all so close. We all root for each other. We were all friends before contestants.”
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