Summer of '95
Bob Harris in his book "Steal this book (and get life without parole)" wrote about the adventure he undertook when preparing for his first appearance on the game show "Jeopardy!". (Bob would later expound on his adventures in a book on the topic, "Prisoner of Trebekistan".) "For twenty-one days, I went down to the library promptly at 9 a.m. and disappeared into the Reference section like Shoeless Joe into a cornfield. By 7 p.m., I was home to watch the show, so I could study betting strategies, get a handle on probable categories, and evaluate my preparedness. At 7:30, I went back to the books for review, keeping notes on my day's discoveries. At no point did I ever work this hard getting my degree."
A similar situation befell me in the summer of 1995. Because I wanted to catch up on some credits, I spent the summer in Ann Arbor taking classes in the summer before my senior year of college. I had a lot of spare time, and I took it upon myself to get on the university's varsity College Bowl team. I was always interested in games of knowledge, and I recalled my mother telling me when she watched "G.E. College Bowl" on American television. I even recall seeing College Bowl myself when Pat Sajak hosted the CBI National Championship in 1984. Even more, the CBI Regionals the following spring -- which would lead to the national championship -- were going to be in Ann Arbor. I wanted desperately to qualify for the varsity team in my senior year, especially since I missed out on making varsity the year before, on a team that finished third at CBI Nationals. For these reasons, I vowed to do what I could to make that happen.
Like Bob Harris, I worked like hell, and my work took the part of two forms. First, I worked to study and learn about likely things. I found myself reading scads of printed materials -- The New York Times, Newsweek, People magazine, the Smithsonian magazine, Entertainment Weekly, National Geographic -- and taking notes of interesting and/or likely-to-come-up facts I learned in a series of notebooks which I still have (see photo above).
Second, I took it upon myself to write a tournament of questions. This was the more difficult and by far more lasting exercise to improve my knowledge base. The late writer Martin Gardner said that there is no better way to learn something than to write about it. And wow was he right (or should I say "write"?). I felt that all that writing improved my knowledge base immeasurably. I wrote questions clear through the summer and into the fall, which was daunting and exhausting (I was finishing right up to the bitter end, pulling an all-nighter -- the first of my entire life -- the day before the tournament when these questions were to be used) but I did it.
There was more: Weekly practices, playing quizbowl via Internet Relay Chat, and multiple tournaments over the summer, and participating in nine additional tournaments throughout that fall and spring across the United States. Yet in retrospect, I believe that I worked hard but I don't think I worked smart. I didn't follow the advice I got to focus on a particular major field -- one of literature, science, history, or current events. I was recommended to follow literature, and I did some work there but not as much as I probably should have. (Irony: I did participate in a literature-themed quiz at Borders and I won first place, garnering a $50 gift certificate which I used on the spot to buy two books.)
Instead, for reasons I'm still not sure and/or don't recall, I focused on current events -- which was a mistake because that would not have helped my standing with balanced team knowledge. Nor did it help that my disposition was, ahem, very excitable. I should have been more calm, more poised, than I was, and its only in recent years when that I've taken that lesson more to heart.
Sometimes you don't get what you want, despite working very hard to get it. I didn't make varsity in my senior year either (for a team that took first place at Nationals), and was understandably heartbroken. Such is life, and yet, life goes on. I was fortunate enough to go to Chicago, qualify on teams, continue my playing career, and get in on the ground floor of a new and thriving quiz question company. That's on top of a team trivia national championship, and continuing success (like recent success at Jeopardy! Bar League).
On this 30th anniversary of that notable summer, I look fondly on that time with the time and opportunity to work hard and get better, maybe not as hard as I could have worked, nor as intelligently a strategy for working, nor with the outcome as I had hoped, but those days resonate and fill me with affection still. They bring to mind the lyrics of a song referencing another time:
Oh, when I look back now
That summer seemed to last forever
And if I had the choice
Yeah, I'd always wanna be there
Those were the best days of my life