Student selected to be on 'Jeopardy!'

The answer is: This fourth-year government and foreign affairs major has been selected to appear on the national television game show "Jeopardy!"

Who is U. Va. student Molley Jesse?

Jesse was chosen from approximately 900 U.Va. students who auditioned in October. The University was chosen as an audition site after the school finished in first place in the "College Jeopardy! Online" competition last semester.

The audition involved three stages. All studentsa interested in gaining a slot on the show answered a 10-question quiz. Those who did well were given 50-question tests. Approximately 10 percent of those top performers engaged in a mock "Jeopardy!" game with buzzers. The show¹s officials took notes on the students¹ performance and appearance during the mock games.

Jesse learned of her selection when a WVIR camera crew surprised her by announcing the news and filming her reaction as she sat in a U.S. military history class.

Jesse did not practice before auditioning. "I think it was pure luck -- or knowing too many useless facts," she said.

Jesse will compete at the "Jeopardy" studios in Culver City, Calif., in mid-January, and the show (or shows, if she wins) will air in February.

A graduate of A. C. Flora High School in Columbia, S.C., she is the daughter of Harold Jesse of Columbia, S.C., and Alice Bradley of Asheville, N.C.