Tonight is the quarterfinal round of the Jeopardy! TeenTournament, and one of the competitors calls the Triad home. Roughly 20,000 students from across the country took the initial online exam. 250 were selected to audition, and only 15 were invited to compete.
But competition is nothing new for Atkins High School senior Rohan Kapileshwari.
He began competing in the Science Olympiad in the 6th grade. Two years later, he joined the academic team, which became the science team, and in high school joined the quiz bowl team. Kapileshwari says it just became a natural part of student life.
“For me, I enjoy the pressure,” says Kapileshwari. “It's just really fun—the kind of adrenaline rush of competition, or knowing, ‘Hey, this is my thing. This is what I want to do, and this is what I have to compete in.' It's just fun to manage that and it's a thrill, and once you learn to enjoy it, it honestly becomes sort of empowering.”
The stakes are much higher in the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament, where the grand prize is $100,000, but Kapileshwari says his friendships at home have been priceless.
“This is a really wholesome group,” says Kapileshwari. “These people are my best friends. And you know whether that's the people on my quiz bowl team or academic team they're people who always encourage you to be smarter, to be better, to work harder, to learn more. And it's a group to tell you to be your best self, and that's all you can ask for really.”
The 2018 Jeopardy! Teen Tournament was recorded earlier this fall, and began airing on Nov. 7. The finals will be broadcast later this month.
When asked about the specific skills he has had to develop to remain successful in academic competitions, Kapileshwari says, “Nothing special.”
“I like to listen to podcasts," says Kapileshwari. "I read a lot of news and a lot of books. I also go out to a lot of competitions. So, my idea of a fun Saturday is riding on a bus with my friends to a competition and answering a bunch of nerdy questions. So, it's really just about how you spend your time, and this is how I've chosen to spend mine.”
Kapileshwari is currently applying to colleges with a focus on mechanical and biomedical engineering programs.
The Jeopardy! Teen Tournament quarterfinals will be broadcast Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7:30 p.m. A public viewing will be held at Wise Man Brewing in Winston-Salem. A portion of the proceeds from the event will go to benefit Help Our People Eat (H.O.P.E.).