Theresa Tejada ’10 won the episode of the television show JEOPARDY! that aired on Tuesday, December 22. Her one-day winnings totaled $21,599. She defended her champion status, albeit unsuccessfully, the following day. Two episodes of Jeopardy seems a fitting tribute to a liberal arts education. On her championship day Theresa’s major in classics came in handy for the Final Jeopardy category: “The Ancient World.” The Final Jeopardy answer: “Dedicated to a female, it’s among the few of the seven ancient wonders whose ruins you can visit.” Theresa got the question: “What is the Temple of Artemis?” She even provided the location, Ephesus, the ancient Greek city that is today a part of Turkey. Perhaps Theresa’s study abroad in Athens came into play with that extra information. Theresa’s liberal arts breadth was on display and indispensable. In Double Jeopardy Theresa found the second Daily Double on the board in the category “Arts and Culture” under the $1,600 clue. At the time, she led the returning champion by $1,800. She bet $2,000 and won! The answer: “Because it has six units called iambs, the poetic line ’Thou art unseen but yet I hear thy shrill delight’ is in iambic this.” Theresa’s correct question: “What is hexameter?” Perhaps she had a literature class at K. Among other categories rewarding a liberal arts background on the day she won: Geographic Features, 8-Letter Words, Double Up On Your Countries, Oscar Nominations, and Christmas Songs and Singers.

Turns out Associate Professor of Classics Elizabeth Manwell managed to watch both shows. “Two really wonderful moments for me,” wrote Elizabeth. “Theresa won the game her first night on the show, in part by answering a final jeopardy question about the seven wonders of the ancient world—a topic she worked on for her Senior Individualized Project in the classics department. The other occurred the second night—-Theresa spoke of an influential Latin teacher, Steve Rosenquist, who taught her at Cranbrook, and who also taught for us for a couple of years. He died recently—-and hers was such a lovely tribute to him. She’s a super young woman!”