ORONO, Maine — This University of Maine faculty member lived out her dream of competing on “Jeopardy.” Answer: “Who is Kara Peruccio?”
After a promising win on her first night, Peruccio’s run on the game show wrapped up with a loss during her second appearance this week.
But she said she’s happy she got to compete at all. Over the years, Peruccio auditioned for the show four times in total.
“This was actually the culmination of my fourth time auditioning for ‘Jeopardy,’ I first tried out in college for the college tournament,” said Peruccio. “I think I’m a testament to persistence of really wanting to get on ‘Jeopardy.’”
Peruccio is an assistant professor of both history and women’s and gender and sexuality studies at UMaine. She nearly made an appearance on the show after a successful audition back in 2011 but was teaching in Turkey at the time and couldn’t make it to the taping.
Looking back on her episodes that aired this month, she said the journey was exciting, but also a bit nerve-wracking.
“The episode kind of flew by. My knees were shaking in a way — I think it was more like a muscle spasm — I was so nervous being up there because it was like ‘oh my gosh I’m on Jeopardy,’” Peruccio said. “But it really wasn’t until they did the commercial break before final Jeopardy that I realized like ‘oh I can win without betting any money.’ And I was doing the math on some scratch paper, and I almost didn’t believe it.”
Peruccio said there’s a big difference between watching at home and competing on stage.
“When most people are at home — myself included — I usually just shout out the answer as soon as I know it,” Peruccio said. “But you actually have to wait and so trying to time all the things together — it’s quite tricky.”
She also said there are aspects of the show viewers might not think about.
“One thing that I thought was really interesting and it never really occurred to me is when you stand behind the podium there’s a little podium that moves up and down depending upon your height, so all the contestants look like they’re the same height,” she said. “When I aired my first episode, the returning champion, Dan, has to be at least 6 feet tall, and so if you watch my episode back, it also looks like I’m 6 feet tall.”
Peruccio isn’t the first in her family to appear on the show, her twin sister, Caitlin, competed more than a decade ago.
They watched the show together growing up and becoming the family’s second competitor was like a dream come true.
“She was really excited for me, and I think it’s really cool that now we can say there are two ‘Jeopardy’ contestants in our family,” Peruccio said. “We do have a little sister. She’s like ‘I’m not sure about regular ‘Jeopardy.’ But we may now try out as a team for pop culture ‘Jeopardy.’”
Peruccio said the experience wasn’t just memorable for her, it was also something her family won’t forget anytime soon.
“The episode that aired right after Mother’s Day, Ken Jennings shouted out my mom, which was really nice,” she said. “And then, ‘Jeopardy’ aired a clip from when Kate was on when Alex Trebek was the host and they were really surprised because I didn’t tell them that was happening, so it’s been a really fun experience for — I think — everyone in my family.”
Peruccio plans to use some of her $12,400 in winnings for a ski trip in Europe. But, beyond the cash prize, she said she left the experience with a few new friends — Jeopardy contestants who taped after her episode.
“We have a group chat going,” Peruccio said. “And I feel like Jeopardy is like a supportive — I don’t know, I don’t want to say like a fraternity or a sorority — but it’s now a group of people who I view as friends for life.”
Back home, friends and family put on a watch party to celebrate.
“Everyone was so excited to see me,” she said. “And I would have had a party regardless of if I won or not, but it felt, I think, extra exciting that they could see me win.”
With her run now behind her, Peruccio is grateful to have had the opportunity to compete.
“All in all,” Peruccio said. “[It was] the experience of a lifetime, really.”
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