An attorney from Columbia, S.C., she recently fulfilled her dream of competing on the game show “Jeopardy!”
Who is Clark Teaster Dawson ’06?
Dawson flew to California in November 2021 to record the show, which aired on Jan. 13. Since then, she has been inundated with requests for signed business cards from friends and strangers.
“I was watching the show with family, and I assumed people that I know would reach out,” Dawson says. “My phone started going off, and I started getting emails in my work address. It died down, but I guess a lot of people DVR the show and watch on weekends, so there was a fresh wave. I vastly underestimated the viewership.”
Dawson, a real estate attorney, watched “Jeopardy!” with her family when she was growing up. She tried to become a contestant on the show for a decade, repeatedly passing the initial test and making it to the second stage but no further.
“I had gotten used to the idea that this would be that thing that I continued to do until I didn’t get invited back,” Dawson says. “Then, in mid-September, I got the call.”
Unfortunately for Dawson, she was a contestant along with Amy Schneider during Schneider’s 40-game win streak — the second longest streak in “Jeopardy!” history. Dawson says that she and the other contestants knew they were in trouble during a pre-production meeting when a “Jeopardy!” staffer told them Schneider wouldn’t be at the meeting because she had heard the information so many times already.
“At that point we stopped looking at each other as competition and started looking at each other as victims of the same tragedy,” Dawson says. “That’s when my game plan changed, and I just wanted to make it to final Jeopardy.”
Dawson went 1-1 against Schneider. As part of their preparation for the show, each contestant participates in two rehearsal games. Dawson won both of her rehearsal games, including one that included Schneider.
The key to being successful on the show, Dawson says, is getting lucky with the categories and finding a rhythm with the buzzer that allows contestants to ring in and answer quickly.
“I finally got into a rhythm with the buzzer, but we took a break, and I never got it back,” she says.
Still, Dawson says the experience was worth the wait.
“It’s been sort of overwhelming,” Dawson says. “Getting to watch the show with my family was its own exciting thing. Then there’s been the residual excitement of people reaching out. Anybody who is thinking about trying out should do it. It’s not hard, and it’s fun.”
By Robert W. Dalton