Meet the WSU Vancouver reference librarian, cat-lover and trivia-master who won big on “Jeopardy!.”
“Jeopardy!,” airing since 1964, is an iconic television game show. Hosted by Alex Trebek, players in groups of three go head to head, testing the extent of their trivia knowledge in a high-stakes gambling competition. In January, WSU Vancouver’s reference librarian, Veronica Vichit-Vadakan, was a contestant for five episodes in season 36 as a four-time game champion. The VanCougar sat down with Vichit-Vadakan and discussed her appearance on the show and her love for trivia and research.
Q: What do you do as a reference librarian, and how long have you worked at WSU Vancouver?
A: I graduated from library graduate school about 10 years ago, but I’ve only been at WSUV for about six months. What I do here is primarily reference, so I sit at the reference desk and answer questions as they come in. That’s really fun because you just never know what kinds of questions you’re going to get, it keeps you on your toes. … You ping-pong between all kinds of different topics. We’re always sitting out front and we’re always looking forward to answering peoples’ questions.
Q: What made you interested in competing on “Jeopardy!”?
A: I watched the show a lot growing up. It was always on and it just was familiar and fun. When I was in high school, I was super into it, and I had a high school teacher that would actually do a jeopardy tournament every year. I won one year, that was exciting, but somehow I never really thought about going on the show. I didn’t watch it for years and then a couple years ago a friend of mine posted on Facebook and she said, ‘Hey, the “Jeopardy!” tests are coming up, the audition tests, if you want to, this is how you sign up,’ and I went, ‘ I used to love “Jeopardy!,” I should try that.’ And I signed up, took the test, and I wound up on the show.
Q: What do you like about trivia?
A: I like the fact that it makes you think about a lot of different topics and just to explore and be curious. It’s actually the same thing I like about being a librarian, which is that you just don’t know what you’re gonna find out. I love to research and learn new things, and learn about my world and history, and odd things you didn’t know about. It’s just fun to have that all floating around in your brain.
Q: Can you tell me about the process for going on the show?
A: The way that it works, you start out with an online test … you just do the best you can … From that group of people, so they say, about 80,000 people take that test … They [then] audition about 6,000 people, which is already narrowing it down, and the audition is really fun. You show up with about 20 other people, other hopefuls, and you do another test, another written test. And then you play a mock game. After that they say, ‘Well, if we want you on the show, we’ll give you a call, and it can be anytime between now and 18 months from now,’ they say it could happen anytime … So, 400 people a year get on the show. You go from 80,000 to 6,000 to 400. I waited almost 18 months, so 15 months after my audition I did actually get the call. At that point, I didn’t think it was gonna happen. It had been so long and so I was really surprised to get the call that they wanted me on the show. I got the call in October of last year and they give you four weeks notice … Then we taped the show in November and aired two months later in January.
Q: How did you prepare for the questions? Did you have a process in mind to memorize certain things?
A: Once I auditioned, I realized that I had to get serious about studying. The number one thing that I think was helpful was I started recording the show and watching it a lot. So, you get the feel for the kinds of questions they ask … That was the first thing I did, was record the show and watch it a lot, and then I also got a lot of flashcard apps. I put a bunch of flashcard apps on my phone and a lot of them have ready made packs like ‘world capitals,’ or ‘Oscar winners’ or whatever. Whenever I had a free moment, I’d drill myself on those categories. And I read, got a lot of trivia books and lists. Working in a library, I have access to a lot of resources, so I’m able to do a lot of research.
Q: How did you feel during the competition?
A: I was super super nervous, I think I was probably the most nervous I had ever been in my life. But, all the other contestants were also nervous, so it was kind of comforting to have everyone there and see that everyone was nervous. I really didn’t want to embarrass myself, ‘You’re going to be on TV, and you’re going to try and be smart and what if you say something stupid?’ Alex was really nice —- we contestants don’t get to interact with him much, they keep us pretty separate. Pretty much what you see on TV when he comes out, and does his little interviews and then at the end he comes out and chit-chats with the other contestants. But, during that time he was really nice, very warm and welcoming. He’s really good at making people feel at ease. He knows that everyone is nervous, so he’s just very charming and fun.
Q: What were your total winnings? Are you planning to do something big with them?
A: My total winnings [were] $90,001. I am going to use a small part of that money to build a ‘catio’ [cat patio] at my house. So, that’s like an enclosed outdoor space for cats. I have two cats and I also foster a lot of cats and kittens for various local shelters, so I’m looking forward to that. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. [My cats] names are Chickpea and Leonard, named after Leonard Nimoy. And then I would like to, as much as possible, put away that money for savings. I’d also like to donate a good portion of that money to various local organizations. I am especially interested in animal-welfare and environmental issues, and also education, so I’m looking forward to finding out what organizations I want to give some of that money to.
Q: Would you plan to be on “Jeopardy!,” or another game show, in the future?
A: Once you’re on, you can’t reapply. It’s a one-time shot, win or lose. So, I won’t be on, I can’t try out for “Jeopardy!” again. There’s a possibility that I could be on the tournament of champions, so currently I’m on the roster… and I’ve got my fingers crossed for that, but I’m right in the middle of the pack. We’ll see if that could happen, that would be the only way that I could be on “Jeopardy!” again. There are other game shows or quiz shows on TV which I had never thought about before, but now that I’m in this community of past “Jeopardy!” contestants, there are Facebook groups, it’s really fun. They talk about going on other shows after “Jeopardy!.” I haven’t decided if I’m going to do that or not. “Jeopardy!” was really the one I wanted to be on, but, I’d consider it.
Vichit-Vadakan can be found at the reference desk in the WSU Vancouver library to answer a plethora of questions, whether they be research or trivia related.
Olivia is a senior studying English at WSU Vancouver.