Freshman Will Take ‘Jeopardy!’ for $100K, Alex

From Shakespeare to Swaziland, from potpourri to potent potables, one Harvard freshman will have to know it all.

Ashley M. Grand ’10 is set to appear as one of 15 contestants in the “Jeopardy!” College Championship, vying for a $100,000 top prize, Sony Pictures Television announced Wednesday.

Grand, who will head to the University of Southern California to compete on April 21 and 22, said her choice to audition for the show last year was a spur-of-the-moment decision.

“I was in Chicago for a high school quiz bowl tournament, and the ‘Jeopardy!’ tryouts were there,” she said. “It was kind of spontaneous—everyone on my team tried out.”

After passing the first phase of the process, a written test, Grand then took part in a mock run-through of the game show.

Last month, Grand found out she’d made the final cut.

And while host Alex Trebek often stumps even the sharpest of contestants, Grand said she has not done much to tune up for the show.

“There’s not really much you can do to prepare,” she said. “My mom sent me the little ‘Jeopardy!’ computer game, and I’ve been playing that, but it’s not like I’m training or anything.”

Grand’s friends and family are optimistic about her chances.

“Ashley has a lot of knowledge on a wide range of topics,” said her father, Fred Grand. “She’s a pretty well-rounded person.”

Grand said she excels at history, literature, and geography in particular.

“She rocked the middle school quiz bowl circuit—she’s pretty impressive,” said Alexandra A. Mushegian ’10, a friend who saw Grand compete in trivia competitions several years ago and a Crimson editor.

Grand said she has some concerns about the quirky “Jeopardy!” rules, as well as sports questions.

“The whole ‘what is’ thing, that’s going to be confusing,” Grand said, referring to the show’s unusual question format. “The buzzer also worries me because in quiz bowl you can answer during the question, while on ‘Jeopardy!’ if you answer early, you’ll be locked out.”

Even with a first-round knockout, Grand will walk away with at least $5,000.

Whatever the outcome, Grand said she would save and invest some of the money, and spend some on travel.

Her father said he thinks she should “further her education and have some fun with it at the same time.”

But Mushegian proposes a different plan.

“She should spend it on muffins and cupcakes for her friends and family,” she said.

The tournament will air from April 30 to May 11, according to a Sony press release.