Spelman student continues metro Atlanta’s run of college Jeopardy success

Metro Atlanta — If you’ve been following the Jeopardy National College Tournament, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed a big metro Atlanta representation.

On Tuesday night, Kennesaw State student Raymond Goslow advanced after a successful match.

On Wednesday night, it was Spelman College’s turn as Claire Jackson took her turn answering questions by asking questions on the game show.

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She is one of three locally connected students competing with 33 others for the tournament championship.

Watch the Jeopardy National College Tournament on Channel 2 all week long!

Channel 2′s Wendy Corona spoke to Jackson about getting her chance on the show.

Jackson said it was watching Jeopardy! every night with her dad in the living room of their Oakland, California home that led her to the big stage.

“I want to see if when he plays the game on the couch if he thinks he can do better than I did,” Jackson said. “The trivia is not the hardest part. It’s the buzzer.”

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Jackson is a third-generation Spelman student who is majoring in English and Spanish. She said her brother, who is a student at Morehouse, was the first person she was able to tell about getting her chance to try out.

“He thought I was joking and I said yeah and he was like, oh well, you’re gonna make it and here we are,” Jackson said.

She told Corona the trick for success in the game is recall, not memorization.

Jackson said her success at making it to the big show made at least one of her competitors a little nervous. She said her dad has been practicing, every day.

“I’ve heard that while I’m gone, he practices on his own so when I come back he’s still sharp,” Jackson said.

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Claire is one of two students from historically black college and universities competing in the tournament this week, something she said is a huge honor.

“I hope in the future, there’s two, there’s three in this tournament. Just like there’s multiple Ivy League students, I hope there’s multiple HBCU students,” Jackson said.

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