I'll Take OMG for 200, Alex

I got an email recently. The sender: Jeopardy Contestant Search. The subject: Jeopardy! Contestant Audition in New York City on June 25 at 11:30 a.m.

I'll be honest. I squealed when I saw it.

A couple of months ago, a friend posted a facebook status, "If you could be on any game show, what would it be?" I answered the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament, and another friend replied to say that I could sign up to take an online test in a couple of days. So I did. It was worth a shot, right?

I don't remember too much about the test, except that I felt pretty confident about it and that there was one question that involved Harry Potter that made me smile. The rest just kind of blends together in a haze of nervousness and hopefulness.

The good people at Jeopardy! didn't give a specific timeline to hear back from them, so after a couple o fdays I stopped thinking about it altogether.

Until the email.

Which made me squeal.

It was pretty vague about the details about the audition, but I'll get another email soon to give me the specifics. In the mean time, I did some googling and found out that the audition usually consists of another fifty-question test. Then comes the interview and mock game portion of the process. If I pass the test, seem engaging and articulate, and perform with the appropriate energy and enthusiasm, I could be on the show.

Around 300 kids advance to the regional auditions, where I'll be on June 25. From there it's winnowed down to fifteen who actually compete. The odds aren't great, but hey, anything's possible, right?

So here I am, with a date with destiny on the calendar. This is real. This is big-time.

I need to prepare.

There's the knowledge aspect, obviously. I've already started playing Trivial Pursuit regularly to beef up on general knowledge, but there's another aspect that I'm a little more nervous about.

I have to prepare five anecdotes about myself in case I make it on the show. These will be what Alex Trebek asks me about the in short, usually vaguely uncomfortable interview portion of the show. I need five things about myself that are worthy of national television. I feel like I may have to force the issue and go out of my way to do interesting things, like the car surfing Michael J. Fox did in Teen Wolf, or meeting the president.

I have to comb through my past, looking for quirky, mostly self-deprecating stories. I can see the conversations unfolding:

"So, Laura, I see that you had an unusual career aspiration when you were in elementary school."

"Yes I did, Alex. In fourth grade I wanted to be a stand-up comedian." (cue audience chuckles)

"Oh really? Can you share some of your material?"

"Sure. What's a cow's favorite Disney movie? Moooo - lan!"

There's also my prodigious hula-hooping skills, and the fact that I can lick my elbow. But I'm not sure I would want to subject America to any unsettling elbow-licking action.

I guess I can tell Alex that I have a blog.

But all this will be for nothing if I don't get on the show in the first place by passing the written tests and being an engaging personality.

The big day is June 25. That's the deadline breathing down my neck. I have to pump up some "Eye of the Tiger" and start mentally exercising.

Do you have any suggestions to help me train for the audition? Or fun anecdotes that I can pretend are my own?