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A spirit that is not afraid

Who is Sunny Stalter?

Sunny Stalter, professor of English, walked away from Jeopardy with $36,200. (Maria Iampietro / PHOTO EDITOR)
Sunny Stalter, professor of English, walked away from Jeopardy with $36,200. (Maria Iampietro / PHOTO EDITOR)

Sunny Stalter began preparing for this moment at the age of 12, and she didn't want to jeopardize it.

Stalter, assistant professor of English, realized a lifelong dream when she was invited in June to be a contestant on "Jeopardy" in Los Angeles.

Stalter made it through two rounds--the first aired Oct. 27 and the second Oct. 30--and walked away with $36,200.

"Being on 'Jeopardy' has always been on the bucket list," Stalter said.

Stalter's first attempt to be a contestant on the show was at age 13, when she was chosen to audition for the teen tournament.

"My parents drove me six hours from central Illinois to the Mall of America in Minnesota where we got to meet Alex Trebek," Stalter said.

Although she didn't qualify, Stalter said it was the first step in her journey.

Stalter tried out again her second year teaching at Auburn and made it to the audition stage in Chicago.

The auditions were three weeks before her wedding, so she wrestled with whether she would participate.

"I really felt like my experience with auditioning and just the positive energy from being about to get married really worked in my favor," Stalter said.

After the audition process, Stalter was originally set to film in August, but unexpected circumstances delayed her TV debut.

"Alex Trebek was robbed in a hotel and woke up and chased after the burglar and hurt his Achilles tendon," Stalter said.

"It got delayed for a month, which was shocking and awful, but I also had an extra month to study."

To prepare for the show Stalter played two practice games every morning.

"To help her out we watched 'Jeopardy' together, and I kept track of her score and judged whether she beat the other people to the buzzer," said Paul Stalter-Pace, Stalter's husband.

Stalter said her second game on the show was full of categories from her "nightmare game of 'Jeopardy.'"

"There was a category in 'Double Jeopardy' on Russian composers," Stalter said. "All three of us were just avoiding Russian composers like the plague."

The most unex-pected experience of being on the show, Stalter said, was witnessing how organized it was.

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"The thing that I wasn't expecting and that I really enjoyed the most was seeing what a well-oiled machine it was," Stalter said.

Although he couldn't make it to Los Angeles to watch Stalter play, Stalter-Pace said family and friends came to their home to watch Stalter's game.

"I was so proud the whole country could see how awesome my wife is and to get to see her achieve a childhood dream," he said.


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