The Jeopardy! Teen Tournament will take place in Jan. 2018, and these episodes will be different than all others— Alex Trebek will introduce a Ledyard student (and hopefully more than once). Junior Charles Crain, who will be a senior by then, is eager to appear on “America’s Favorite Quiz Show.”

Crain has consistently been a trivia fan, and was always up-to-date with apps like Trivia Crack and QuizUp. On the latter, he has a 75% win rate and has recently received the Dux achievement on Mar. 13, which signifies winning a whopping 1000 games.

“I already ace all quizzes in school, so I think the logical next step forward is to seek out a different kind of challenge,” Crain said.

He will turn 18 in late Feb. 2018, but he prefers not to wait for the regular tournament. “I know it’s only a month difference, but it’s smarter to join when I’m in the older end of the 15-17 age range,” Crain said. “I can easily beat a 15-year-old, but a 50-year-old might have an edge over me.”

His favorite subjects include biology, philosophy, and word origins.

Despite being extremely excited to appear on national television, he is also somewhat nervous.

“The last time I played Jeopardy! was probably two years ago, in Mr. VanFrachen’s World History class,” Crain said. “I think it was about World War II, but I can’t really remember because I played for a very little amount of time before Mr. V had me keep track of points because my team would overwhelmingly win.”

Crain will make Ledyard High School history, and he’s very appreciative of all the classes he has taken so far. “I don’t religiously watch Jeopardy!, but when I do, I can usually get the answers because of material I’ve learned in classes like AP US History or AP Biology,” he said.

He’s hopeful the experience will be eye-opening and rewarding, regardless of the tangibility of the outcomes.

Carina Wang, Editor-in-Chief

Junior Carina Wang is the Editor-in-Chief of The Colonel. She participates in PALESTRA. Outside of school, she can be found volunteering her time at humanitarian nonprofits or her doctor’s office, running a study inspiration Tumblr blog, or avidly refreshing PowerSchool.