Patrick Antle became the first ever Tufts Graduate School of Arts and Sciences student crowned Jeopardy! champion this past Tuesday.
Of the 40,000 people who apply online, 4,000 who audition in person and 400 who ultimately compete on Jeopardy!, Antle became part of the elite 100 contestants crowned champions each year, joining the likes of Ken Jennings, David Madden and Brad Rutter.
When asked about the moment he won, Antle described the surreal experience.
"Six weeks of studying constantly just for this one little game show. It worked. I got lucky enough to be on top for that one question," Antle said. "It was just complete shock. I looked up at my family in the crowd and they were going crazy and cheering."
During the game, Antle was doubtful that he would win.
"I thought I had no chance of winning," he said. "I was perfectly happen to take my second-place $2,000 and go home. When the camera panned across I had a smile on my face - if you're going to go out you might as well go out with a smile."
Instead, he took home $22,800 as the day's champion.
After winning the first game, Antle had just 10 minutes to change clothes and walk back on for the next edition, which aired last night. Antle lost his second game, coming in third and taking home an additional $1,000.
"All that leftover adrenaline got me through the first round, but in the second half my timing was off and there were things I didn't know," Antle said. "Had I gotten the 'Daily Double,' I would have had an insurmountable lead. Slowly but surely, my competitors caught up to me."
Antle was ultimately overtaken in the Final Jeopardy round, where the clue told contestants to identify a famous figure's autobiography. He guessed Desmond Tutu - and risked nearly his entire total on that answer - before discovering that the correct response was Mahatma Gandhi.
Still, he returned to Tufts with $23,800 and a spot in the university's history books, an impressive haul for an hour on the Jeopardy! stage.
