What Happened?
You’ve probably watched Jeopardy! at least once in your life, and have seen people that win 10,000, 20,000 or even 30,000 USD by answering clues from different categories. However, very rarely do you see someone win more than that. Well, those numbers are just child’s play for competitor Mattea Roach, who has won a breathtaking USD 560,000 on the game show from a 23-day streak!
Imagine being 23 years old, just graduating from university, and trying to find your way in life. And then out of nowhere, you win more than $560,000 from a trivia show! You may be wondering, “How does this person know so many random facts?!” And to that, I would say two things: lots of reading, and lots of practice! Mattea said herself that she used to play tones of trivia games with her dad for practice, and eventually made it up to Jeopardy! level!
The Last Game
Game 24 of Mattea’s streak was looking pretty normal. She was holding a steady lead to the game, but it never turned into a runaway. It was Final Jeopardy! where everything changed. In Final Jeopardy! you can pick an amount of money to wager and hope to answer a random question correctly. The timer started ticking and Mattea needed to get this question correct to move to the next game. The second player to answer got the question correct, now holding a lead on Mattea. Then it was her turn, and when Mattea gave in her answer, it was not correct!
Because Mattea wagered $3,601, it took her out of the first place spot by one dollar! Only one! Although you may think this is a sad moment for Mattea, she made sure to leave with a smile on her face proud of everything she had accomplished in the game.
This shows that everyone can reach the goal they are looking for. As long as you put in the work to get to it. Or in Mattea’s case, lots of reading!