How did you react when you found out about the Kids Week Reunion?
When I found out there was going to be a Kids Week Reunion, I was pretty shocked, I must say. Uh, it definitely was something I wasn't expecting, and, uh, I kinda slipped into nervousness a little earlier than I did last time. But, um, you know, it's a great opportunity and I'm really excited to be back.
Did people recognize you from your last appearance on the show?
Being on Jeopardy! there were a couple instances in which, uh, people would come up to me on the street and be like, "Were you on Jeopardy!?" And I also won a Jeopardy! hat at the audition, which I tended to wear around a while. Um, and I ended up writing my college essay on Jeopardy! Uh, so, I guess you could say it helped out getting into college.
Was there anything embarrassing you did on your first appearance?
The first time I was on Jeopardy! there were definitely a few mistakes and embarrassing moments I had. I think the, uh, greatest mistake I made was saying I wanted to be a cryptozoologist when I was 11. Um, that's a pretty obscure profession, and, uh, I think I explained it by saying I wanted to find, like, Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster, which, still today I get made fun of a lot. I realize there were a lot better ways to kind of, uh, describe the profession.
Are you as nervous as you were last time on Jeopardy!?
Compared to last time I'm definitely a lot more nervous. I realize that people are actually going to be judging me this time. And, uh, going through puberty has left me with a greater perception of how the world perceives you, I guess, so... |
"His early interest in cryptozoology has been replaced by a history major, and having studied in Vietnam and Cambodia make him want to spend even more time overseas. He's now a senior at Williams College. Meet..."
2008 Kids Week Reunion winner: $25,000.
1999 Back to School Week player (1999-09-06).
Looking Back, Looking Forward
It had been 20 names and mine was not one of them. "How did I fail that test," I thought to myself. Even at 11, I had a keen awareness of my own abilities and I was certain that they were good enough to pass my Jeopardy! entrance exam. However, my odds were dwindling on that sunny Miami day and I waited in agony with scores of other pre-pubescent children for that last name to be read. At that point, it didn't matter so much, my father had already admitted that he had failed the test and originally scheduled as a parent-child tournament our chances of competing were virtually eliminated. If my name was not that twenty-first, I would have returned to my middle school fighting to finish the sixth grade. Trust me, for a kid who flirted with the outskirts of nerdom, just being able to leave the clutches of middle school bullies for a weekend was fine enough. But I was that last name called and my 1 in thousand chance of being on the show continued.
Weeks had past and the torture walk that was sixth-grade continued. I thought nothing of Jeopardy! I was in Mr. Sarris's Algebra class when the loudspeaker came on and called me to the office. My grandfather had been sick at this point and I assumed the worst. As I turned the corner to walk to the office I saw my mother and judging by her dancing I realized my grandfather was not dead. She gave me the good news. I was to be on Jeopardy! For maybe the only time ever, I smiled walking into Algebra. I sat down and Brendon asked me what happened. I replied, "I'm going to be on Jeopardy!" I regret making Brendon the first person I told. He had a penchant for hitting me in the neck with rubber bands.
That summer I flew out to L.A. and bada bing I was on the show. I remember being extremely excited to stay at the Beverly Hills Hilton. It was miles away from our usual Econo Lodge. The four dollar Coca-Colas and 20 dollar pu-pu platters were equally as unusual. The next morning, when I went down to the lobby to join my competitors, I was greeted by fourteen under-slept nervous wrecks and in one marching row of anxiety we boarded the bus. At the studio, we learned the ins and outs of Jeopardy! and had a chance to meet the demi-god of game shows, the one and only Alex Trebek. While the meeting was on the brief side, I was able to fulfill a promise I made to my grandparents, and told Alex they said "hi". Looking back on this, I think my grandparents actually meant that as a joke. After Alex left backstage, I was informed that I would be the first one on the show, and all of a sudden the hundred butterflies in my stomach burst from their cocoons. The next memory I have is the feeling of two hands pushing me forward onto the blinding blue of the stage. Being the first one called was incredibly nerve racking, although I am able to say I was the very first kid on the very first episode of the very first season. Now 21, I can use this fact in its most important form, as an impressive bar story. I liked my odds at winning for maybe the first two seconds of the show because sitting in front of me were my two pieces of kryptonite: THE BIBLE and SPELLING. An athiest 11 year old who lost in the first round of his school's spelling bee on the word "gorilla" I had no chance.
I'd like to say I fought the good fight, and the other contestants let me be. I wish I could tell you that--but Jeopardy! is no fairy tale world. I came in third. (Two points if you realized I plagiarized Shawshank Redemption.) Yes, third, bronze, the one with the hairy chest (well not then at least... moreso now). In retrospect, not winning the money doesn't matter at all. No one ever teases me about losing. I got a computer and 2000+ jellybeans, which by the way, I hope Jelly Belly reinstates their sponsorship for this tournament. Furthermore, if I did win 5,000 dollars I would have likely blown it all on a computer and something like jelly beans. So, in the end that all evened out. This isn't to say no one made fun of me. It was middle school. They just happened to make fun of my embarrassing choice for a future career.
This paragraph is dedicated to all those cryptozoologists out there. Keep doing God's work... or finding God's work as the case may be. Yes, cryptozoology, a word so esoteric that it doesn't even come up on Microsoft word spell-check. A cryptozoologist is a discoverer of undiscovered species. Let me say that again, a discoverer of undiscovered species. Yes, I was that weird. Ever since I saw that Discovery Channel episode about the scientist who wanted to find the Loch Ness Monster I knew cryptozoology was right for me. Blessed are the cryptozoologists and their quests to find things that don't really exist. Why did I want to be a cryptozoologist? Honestly? I have no idea. I just wanted to be different. But, boy do people make fun of me for it (the tense change is correct). It was weird and obscure and I might have been able to save myself had I not responded to Alex's interview question with the answer, "Well it's someone who finds and studies species like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster" and responded with something like, "Cryptozoology is a subfield of biology in which scientists study habitats in order to further enhance our knowledge of ecodiversity." Put that way, it sounds like a legitimate field. But I was in 6th grade and biology was an 8th grade course.
As I head into the next round of Jeopardy!, my lofty aspirations for cryptozoology behind me, I can honestly say I am quite nervous. No, not because I'm going to be seen by millions of people. I do theater. I can come to terms with stage fright. Rather, I am nervous because this time I am past puberty. I have a sense of what it means to be a part of Jeopardy! I am a player in a cultural phenomenon. I am a part of history. I realize that if I say I want to be a cryptozoologist it's not cute, it's become abnormal and unnecessarily eccentric. Money is a factor, my money goes to things other than Lego blocks, like school and rent. I can do positive things with money now. I realize my network of support and I don't want to let them down. I have to prove that Williams College is better than an Amherst College safety school. I am an adult now. I hate that. I wish I could still dream of being a cryptozoologist, but I've discovered reality and that three horned purple fish at the bottom of lake Titicaca and that Green backed slothuahua (cross between a sloth and a Chihuahua, I don't know it might be out there sloths need a little lovin' too) are going to have to wait for another aspiring cryptozoologist.
Sidenote: I apologize for the decent into the philosophical, I am 21 and about to graduate from school, otherwise known as an existential crisis.
Zach Safford is a Senior at Williams College in Williamstown, MA. He appeared on show 3446 in September of 1999. |
