He is the first student to represent Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in the “Jeopardy!” College Championship. Who is Weston Mangin?
The biomedical engineering freshman said he did not expect to be competing on the famous show at the beginning of his second quarter in college. But the idea to try for a chance at the show came from his aunt, as well as his grandmother, who has been a longtime fan of the show.
“It is on her bucket list and she loves Alex (Trebek),” said his mother, Sandy Mangin. “She plans her day around it, and she watches it every day.”
To qualify for the show, Mangin took a 50-question test in March 2010, with questions ranging from ancient artwork to modern bands, which would lead to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and the chance to win $100,000.
Between the excitement of graduating from Arroyo Grande High School and making the transition to college life at Cal Poly, Mangin said he had forgotten all about “Jeopardy!” and had assumed he’d missed his chance.
“(I thought) they didn’t like whatever I did, so I’ll try again next year,” Mangin said.
Mangin’s mother and sister did not think much of it either. When Mangin made the 200-mile trip to Los Angeles for his audition, they dropped him off and went shopping.
“We just dumped him off and said ‘Bye, have fun! Say Hi to Alex,’ because we just did not take it seriously,” his mother said. “We didn’t think he had that big a shot at it, so it was very much a surprise when he got the call.”
Mangin, along with other hopeful college students from across the country, made the trip to Los Angeles with students from universities such as Duke, Brown, Berkeley, Stanford and Harvard to compete against one another on a more difficult, written test and a practice round of “Jeopardy!”. Producers of the show also interviewed the contestants in order to get to know them, to see if they would be able to handle themselves and be personable enough for good television.
“I figured the largest strike against me was that I was a freshman,” Mangin said. “If I was a producer I would say to myself ‘Self, the freshman has three more years to get this right, at least — if by some miracle he graduates in four years.”
Mangin thought that if he made it this far once, he could do it again next year and did not have any expectation of making it on the show.
When Mangin was told he was going to be on “Jeopardy!”, he said he couldn’t express his excitement.
“When I finally got ahold of (the producer), I made the mistake of being in my dorm with two sleeping roommates,” he said.
He used several websites to help him prepare for the show, but mostly relied on his “knowing a little about a lot of things,” he said.
When it was finally time to go to Los Angeles and compete, Mangin said he didn’t feel very nervous — until it was show time.
“I didn’t get nervous until my name was called for the first round,” he said. “I started to panic a little bit because this is going to be fast-paced and difficult, and I’m not really sure that I know what I’m doing.”
No matter the outcome of the competition, every contestant goes home with a minimum prize of $5,000. Semifinalists receive $10,000, third place $25,000 and second place $50,000. The grand prize winner receives $100,000 and a guaranteed spot in the Tournament of Champions.
In total, there are 15 contestants and one alternate. The 15 are randomly divided into five groups of three to compete in the first round of competition. The top winner from each group automatically moves up to the semifinals along with the next four highest earners to complete a group of nine. The nine are split into groups of three and the winners of each group then move on to the championship.
Mangin’s father, Joe Mangin, and mother said they were proud of Mangin for being able to make it on the show, but above all, they are the happiest about how he carried himself.
“We were amazed at his poise,” his mother said. “We would be freaking out, but he didn’t show any nervousness.”
Despite having a nonchalant attitude in the beginning, Mangin’s parents said they were on the edge of their seats throughout the competition. It was “nerve-wracking” to not be able to help their son, they said.
“I was thinking, ‘Don’t answer that,’ ‘Don’t play so much on the double Jeopardy!’” Mangin’s father said.
Even a producer from the show noticed a difference in Mangin from the other contestants.
“After the show, one of the producers came up, shook Weston’s hand and said ‘I just want to tell you, you’re a good person,’” Mangin’s mother said. “As a mom, that’s what I care about.”
Mangin couldn’t divulge the outcome of the competition. He did say however, that it was a friendly competition between the students who still keep in touch through a Facebook group they created, called “Trebekstascy.”
“We became friends pretty quickly because we weren’t allowed to talk to anyone else for 12 hours a day, and we were under a good amount of stress,” he said. “But we are competing against each other, so eventually you have to be cutthroat because you want to win.”
Mangin started the show in the first position in the first round of competition, which airs tonight and lasts until Feb. 14.
“By the end of it I felt like I was in my element,” Mangin said. “Obviously, I can’t say how I did, but for the remainder of the tournament I felt like I knew what I was doing.”