CSUSM math professor appears on Jeopardy

Kimberly Ayers is like a lot of people when it comes to phone calls from numbers she doesn’t recognize – she ignores them.

But in January, one of those unknown callers left a voicemail.

The person said they were calling from the TV game show “Jeopardy.” Ayers had gone through the tryout process for the show, but that had been more than a year earlier, so it’s understandable that she was dubious when she returned the call.

“I said something like, ‘It sounds so crazy and paranoid, but is there any way for you to prove to me that this is not a scam?’ She said, ‘No one’s ever asked me that.’ I must have sounded like a crazy person,” said Ayers, laughing.

The woman told Ayers that she would send her an email from her official “Jeopardy” account. The call and the email were real. “Jeopardy” wanted Ayers on the show as a contestant.

It would mean taking a day off from her job as a math professor at Cal State San Marcos, but Ayers had no trouble getting support from department chair Marshall Whittlesey and Jackie Trischman, the dean of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. And, needless to say, her students were ecstatic to learn about the appearance.

In the episode that aired on March 31, Ayers finished second out of the three contestants, with the winner extending his streak of victories to 13 days.

“My only goal was not to embarrass myself too badly,” Ayers said. “And I think I can confidently say that I didn’t bring shame to CSUSM.”

Ayers watched “Jeopardy” growing up, but while many people dream of being on the show and spend endless hours prepping for its arduous audition process, she did it largely on a whim.

What followed was 18 months filled with tests, interviews, and, most of all, waiting.

Finally, in January, Ayers received a call inviting her to Los Angeles to appear on “Jeopardy.” She spent the next month brushing up on her trivia and gleaning tips from a friend who had been on the show. That included watching episodes of “Jeopardy” at home and acting as if she were a contestant by standing up and using a pen to practice clicking in to answer questions, as timing is one of the keys to success.

“It goes so fast,” Ayers said. “You can only buzz in after the answer is done being read, but if you buzz in prematurely, you’re penalized a quarter of a second, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is. The whole thing is just so incredibly fast.”

Ayers had to complete a lengthy information sheet and answer questions to help determine what host Ken Jennings would chat with her about between rounds. “Jeopardy” films five episodes a day, so Ayers was also instructed to bring five different outfits in case she advanced.

The day of filming, Jennings came out to meet all of the contestants before taping began and encouraged them to have fun.

“He’s such a nice guy,” Ayers said. He said, “This is your victory lap. You got on the show, and that is an incredible feat in and of itself. Try not to stress too much about it and enjoy the process.”

Ayers did just that.

“It was just such a crazy, cool experience,” she said.