Bloomfield contestant takes 3rd place and $1,000 on ‘Jeopardy’

By Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta
Correspondent
BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Joyce Sun grew up watching “Jeopardy” in the 1980s, along with other game shows like “Family Feud” and “The Price is Right.”

But once she became a lawyer, working long hours and always coming home late, Sun was unable to watch the show. During retirement, her interest was rekindled. Still, she never dreamed she’d be on the show. It all happened on a lark.

During the pandemic, Sun took the “Jeopardy anytime” test, which anyone can take from their phone or home computer. The test is timed and offers 50 questions. If you complete that phase, you answer another 50 questions while a “Jeopardy” proctor watches. Finally, there’s an interview over ZOOM and mock game play.

Throughout each stage, Sun was propelled. She just did not want to quit. “I’m retired now,” she said, “I wanted bragging rights with my competitive husband.”

Once she passed all the tests, she entered “a total immersion into a crazy world of everything ‘Jeopardy.’” The first step was getting out to California to film her appearance, which Sun had to be secretive about for two months.

“I couldn’t tell anybody about the show until after the show,” she said.

Sun had the confidence that she could answer the questions but wasn’t so sure she could win.
“Any contestant going on the show should review the rules and betting strategies. It’s not just good enough to know trivia. You can’t prepare being good on the buzzer. The buzzer timer is tricky. If you buzz in too early, you get locked out.”

However, the biggest challenge was something Sun just never expected — the bright lights that focus on the faces of the contestants while they try to read the clues. “And the podium you’re standing on – you might fall off if you’re not careful,” she said.

Going into the final Jeopardy round with the lead, Sun made the largest wager and lost all her money. “That’s the way the ‘Jeopardy’ cookie crumbles,” she expressed. She finished in third place and took home $1000.

Since the episode aired on May 24, Sun has received many positive emails, texts, and phone calls from relatives and friends she hasn’t heard from in a long time.

The once in a lifetime experience enabled Sun to become friends with a great group of people who continue to keep in touch with her via group text chats which sometimes add up to 200 per day. “It’s a bunch of warm and funny people,” she said. “Instant friendships. Very supportive of each other, especially when our episodes were airing and there were a lot of back-and-forth positive comments. Some of us met after the show and will continue to do so in the future. We went through this intense experience together.”

Now that the excitement is phasing out, Sun said she just wants to crawl under a rock.
“I never liked attention – I think when people talk about me, I feel self-conscious,” she said. “Now, the texting, the communication, has been very ‘Jeopardy’ intense.”

Sun’s future plans include continuing to enjoy her retirement and doing things like “having lunch with friends, reading more, and taking care of long neglected projects around the house,” she said. “Hopefully travel more as we emerge from the pandemic.”