SAUL LOEB/Arizona Daily Wildcat Marketing senior Jenny Hauser will represent the UA on "Jeopardy!'s College Championship" program, which is scheduled to air at 4 p.m. Friday on KGUN channel 9.

Jenny Hauser isn't your typical nerdy trivia queen. She has excellent social skills, doesn't converse in unintelligible academic lingo and doesn't sit at home all day reading the encyclopedia.

But she does read the almanac. And is a contestant on this week's "Jeopardy! College Championship."

The marketing senior was just as surprised as she was overjoyed when she found out she was going to be a contestant on her favorite game show.

"I've always been a really big fan of the show. I used to watch it with my dad and we'd compete with each other," Hauser said.

"I like how it doesn't always focus on stuff that you learn in school," she said. "It's just all these random facts that you pick up along the way."

Not thinking much of it, Hauser found herself online one day and decided to register to be on the show. Amazingly, she was one of the randomly selected people asked to try out to be a contestant in the College Championship. The tryout consisted of a 50 question test, and if she passed, Hauser would move on to a mock game videotaped by Alex Trebek.

Hauser found herself going through the process of flying to Los Angeles, taking what the "Jeopardy!" Web site calls an "extremely difficult" test, and taping a mock game, all while school was getting started.

"You answer a few questions with the buzzer, and they ask you a couple questions about yourself," Hauser said. "When I passed it I was so excited."

If You Watch . . . "Jeopardy!" 4 p.m. Friday on KGUN channel 9

However, the stressful process still wasn't close to finished. Just because a potential contestant passes the screening test, that doesn't guarantee them an appearance on the show. Hauser's tape was put in the active file for the year and she was told that she'd be notified if they wanted her on the show.

She didn't think she'd hear back, but a week later a letter came in the mail notifying her that she made it onto the show.

That was around Labor Day and the taping in Los Angeles would occur on Oct. 5 and 6. That meant Hauser had only a month to prepare.

"I didn't have a lot of time (to prepare)," Hauser said. "When I had a free moment at work or taking a break from homework I'd play online."

In addition to playing online, Hauser bought some "Jeopardy!" trivia books, played Trivial Pursuit with her roommates and read the almanac. However, as a busy full time student who holds down two jobs, Hauser found herself not as prepared as she would have liked.

"I don't have time to watch it, but if it was on later than four I'd be all over it!" said Hauser with a laugh. "I'm still trying to figure out how I balanced work and school and the stress of it all."

Although she can't reveal the results of her taping, it's clear that Hauser didn't perform as well as she'd hoped to.

"The buzzer was my weakness," Hauser said ruefully.

No matter what the result of her stint on "Jeopardy!" was, Hauser has remained the same person she always was before she found fame on one of the nation's favorite game shows.

"She's not a braggart," Daniel Bernardi, assistant professor of media arts, said of his student and friend. "She's cheery, focused, helpful and smart."

Bernardi has known Hauser for two years, first as a student in one of his media arts classes, and then as a research assistant and now as a technology preceptor.

"I thought, ÎI hope she wins some money.' I thought it was kind of funny, you know," Bernardi said. "I didn't know she knew so much trivia. You know, usually trivia people aren't also all the other wonderful qualities that she has."

But Hauser says her experience on "Jeopardy!" was about more than just winning money and recognition. Everything about the show, from the host to the other contestants to her embarrassing anecdote involving a flaming birthday cake, went surprisingly well, she said.

"Everybody there was so nice, and all of the other contestants and I still talk. It's one of the best weekends I've ever had," Hauser said. "(The competition) wasn't like, ÎI'm going to stomp you, you're going down,' everybody was so nice, so friendly ÷ we just had a blast."

As far as her future goes, Hauser hopes to attend grad school at UCLA and study film after she graduates in May. However, much to Hauser's disappointment, another appearance on Jeopardy! isn't in the cards.

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat!" Hauser said. "Except I can't go back. I can't try out ever again. You have to be invited back to ÎCelebrity Jeopardy!' So, I'm hoping one day I become rich and famous so I can go on ÎCelebrity Jeopardy!'"