UT senior Jaskaran Singh confirms that he did not go to class today. Not after winning $250,000 on Jeopardy! on Tuesday, February 22 and taking home the National College Championship.

Certainly not after UT Austin President Jay Hartzell announced that the university would light the UT Tower burnt orange in recognition of Singh's victory, an honor generally reserved for football wins, national championships or other special events, like LBJ's 100th birthday.

"No, not a chance," he laughs. "No way, absolutely not."

Singh doesn't know how Hartzell took this response, which went viral on Twitter, but he did offer the Jeopardy! champ seats for tonight's men's basketball game against TCU.

"I should be getting ready for that now," he says. 

It's been a whirlwind day for the finance and economics double major, who spent the day on a bus back from his parents' home in Dallas, where friends and family gathered to eat cake and watch his winning episode. Except no one besides Singh knew the outcome.

Some were nervous watching Singh answer correctly in Final Jeopardy! without wagering any cash. His closest competitor, Kennesaw State's Kenneth Goslow, also answered correctly — "what is The Gilded Age?" — but seemingly pulled in front of the UT Austin senior during the final round of Jeopardy! National College Championship. 

Singh just knowingly smiled. He had a reserve from the previous game, and his $51,700 edged out Goslow's $46,999 despite a late-game surge from the second-place student, earning him $250,000.

"When I put the zero down, at the watch party, people were like ‘what did you do?’" he laughs. "And I was like, don’t worry. You'll see."

Singh's winning episode was filmed three months ago. At the watch party on Tuesday night, many were trying to catch glimpses on his face to see his reaction while the episode aired. One friend kept asking leading questions that began, "when you won," but after signing multiple NDAs, Singh's lips were sealed. 

"I just told my parents, 'I did well," he says.

Singh says he was a Jeopardy! superfan in elementary school, but shortly after grew out of it. At 13, he took the Jeopardy! qualifying test, but didn't make the cut. Last year, his mother encouraged him to try again. Once he made it, any announcements he made had to be spoiler-free. After the episode's airing, Singh says, he received between 1,000 and 2,000 notifications on his phone. 

Singh, who hardly used Twitter before the last couple of weeks, became aware that people were following his progress when he got an ovation from the hostess at his favorite restaurant on campus, China Family, on Guadalupe Street. He realizes that he might have some more attention when he arrives back in class tomorrow. 

"I’m already the guy with the turban so I already stand out in a sense," he says. "Now I’m the Jeopardy! guy. It’s even easier to find me."

Singh will now compete in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, which he assumes will start later in the year, as the Jeopardy! season is still ongoing.

"It’s going to be pretty tough going against all these people who have won a bunch of money on Jeopardy! but I’m excited to do my best, and represent UT again," he says. 

For now, Singh has an important purchase to make after his mass transit excursion this afternoon.

"I do need a car," Singh says, just a couple hours removed from his MegaBus sojourn down I-35. "I’ll probably get a car. I’ll donate some. And then, well, I’ll figure it out. It’s still pretty surreal right now." 

[Courtesy: MySa. Edited for sikhchic.com]

February 23, 2022 

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