Jeopardy Smackdown: MIT sophomore enters College Championship finals

Trevor Walker on the Jeopardy

If you've been watching this week’s College Championship on Jeopardy, you know that MIT Computer Science and Engineering sophomore Trevor Walker has already won the quarter-final and the semi-final on May 8 and 13. Tonight and tomorrow, Trevor takes the podium once more for the two-day final.

“The communal score from both of those days determines who the winner is,” Walker explains at the Stata Center, while on a quick break from working on an MIT project final.

After all, Walker filmed the show last April. “I already know who the winner is,” he admits with a shy smile. But he won’t spoil it for me.

Whether Walker wins or not, he had a great time getting to know his fellow contestants. “It was great getting to know them. We’re all still friends – we’re friends on Facebook.”

Walker would like to do Jeopardy again someday, or perhaps a different quiz show.

“But Jeopardy was always my favorite,” he says. “When I was a teenager, I would take the teen tournament online test. One year, I got an audition, but I didn’t get any further than that, that time.”

Walker’s voice brightens as he describes his passion for fact-finding. “If I see something interesting, I’ll look it up on Wikipedia, and then I’ll find more links and read about that, so I’ll end up reading something completely unrelated to whatever I was originally looking for.”

Many people enjoy similar Wikipedia binges, but Walker has a gift for remembering the results of his information trawls. “I tend to remember a lot of little things,” he says. “My memory’s not incredible – it’s just good.”

Tapping his memory on Jeopardy is more fun than a final exam at MIT. “[Jeopardy] was a lot less stressful. I didn’t feel like I had to cram or anything. I knew what I knew and I was going to do the best I could.”

Does he feel that confident about his final exams, though? “Not necessarily,” Walker admits.

Walker’s appearance on the show has earned him other perks besides new friends. “People here all seem to know about it now,” Walker tells me. “I got recognized in UBurger the other day! That was unexpected.”

Check out Trevor Walker’s final push for a Jeopardy win tonight and tomorrow. Use Jeopardy.com’s When to Watch guide to find the channel and show time for your location.

Update: Trevor Walker did not take first prize in the Jeopardy finals, but he did take home $50,000 as the first runner-up.