Grand Valley faculty member challenged Jeopardy show champion

Ashley Shannon was both excited and terrified when she saw the category for Final Jeopardy while appearing on the popular game show October 11th. The assistant professor of English at Grand Valley was competing against Joon Pahk, a six-day champion going into the game.

“Since 19th century literature is my area of specialization, I didn’t want the embarrassment of getting it wrong,” said Shannon. “Luckily, it was a fairly easy question, so all three of us got it right.”

In the end, Shannon came in second place. “I knew the answers to about 95 percent of the questions on the board, but I just couldn’t get into the right rhythm with the signaling device,” she said. “You do get to practice with it a bit beforehand, but obviously with six games under his belt, Joon was a pro at that point.” She said that at least she has the satisfaction of never giving a wrong answer on Jeopardy.

View the show on Youtube at Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwAmu0hrZQA&feature=youtu.be and Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/user/geeewhiz#p/a/u/1/ROciuyizJIc