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Taryn Agati ’05 accomplished a lifetime goal of being on her favorite television game show, Jeopardy.

Taryn has always been an avid fan of the show. As a college student, she would keep track of how many questions she answered correctly. Finally, at age 30, one of her friends encouraged her to audition for the show.

“Before I did that, I wanted to have an average of 70% correct responses for an entire month,” said Taryn. “I would score myself. One week, I would have 67%. Then, I would be up to 73% the following week.”

She finally applied to be on the show in April 2019. She took a timed online test, comprised of fifty questions. Applicants have eight to ten seconds to reply to each question. Once the question is answered, participants can’t go back. Categories included geography, history, science, wordplay, literature, music, movies and pop culture.

In May 2019, she was invited to audition for the show in Washington, DC along with fifty other hopefuls. The audition included a mock Jeopardy round with two other contestants and a personality interview. “Afterwards, I was put into a contestant pool for eighteen months,” she said. “They can call you at any time to be on the show. I got the in the first week of March 2020 to go on in April 2020.”

COVID-19 hit and Taryn’s appearance was postponed. She diligently prepped in the meantime. “Throughout the whole process of taking the tests and going through the auditions, I just went with what I knew. During quarantine, I prepped on topics that I felt super comfortable with.  I also watched older episodes of the show online to see how clues were structured and what questions were asked. I’ve had one of the biggest stretches of time to prepare. I had nineteen months. Normally, you only get one.”

Taryn finally taped her episode in November 2021. She arrived at 7:30am for hair, makeup, wardrobe and a debriefing.  She participated in two practice rounds before her episode was taped.

“They tape five shows a day,” she said. “so it was a very long but fun day.”

Finally, she was on the set and playing against reigning Jeopardy champion, Amy Schneider. “I was able to get out all of my jitters during rehearsal. I was so zen and hyper-focused during the actual game. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me.  Even though I didn’t win, I had fun playing and meeting the other contestants.”

Throughout the entire process, Taryn was constantly surprised at how fast everything was happening. She never anticipated being asked to appear on the show after taking the test once. “It’s so hard to actually make it on to the show.  10,000-25,000 people usually audition, and only 400 get on. During COVID, 100,000 people auditioned. I’m very proud of myself that I was able to get on so quickly.”

Taryn’s day job also contributed to her success of making it onto the show. She is a Law Librarian with Save Connecticut Judicial Branch. Her job involves conducting research and helping with reference work.

“We provide references to all types of parties engaged in the legal process. To be in this position, you need to know a lot about many things. It is a constantly evolving job. It is perfect for me because I like being challenged and having some kind of impact on people.”