On June 21, 22 and 25, Somerville resident, Margaret Swanson’s appearances on “Jeopardy!” (America’s Favorite Quiz Show®) aired. – Photo courtesy of Jeopardy Productions, Inc.

By Cathleen Twardzik
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“Stung by a bee, where?” said Alex Trebek, Host of Jeopardy!, in Margaret Swanson’s introductory anecdote on her second day on the show.  “On my tongue,” said Swanson.  On a positive note, she is not allergic.

On June 21, 22 and 25, her appearances on Jeopardy! (America’s Favorite Quiz Show®) aired.  Swanson, 30, is an architecture graduate student who resides in Somerville.

The shows on which Swanson appeared were taped on February 14 and 15.  Jeopardy! is taped on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, five shows per day.

Swanson, who graduated from Williams College with a Bachelor of Arts in art history, currently attends Harvard Graduate School of Design.

In her free time, Swanson enjoys solving The New York Times crossword puzzle.

An individual’s journey to Jeopardy! entails several steps. First, potential contestants must complete the online test, which is available several times each year.

“Some months later, after which I’d pretty much forgotten about it, I got an email inviting me to an in person audition in downtown Boston at the beginning of May,” said Swanson.

At the in-person interview, “You go into another room, where you take a second 50 question test and play some mock rounds of Jeopardy!, which was really fun. After your little mini round, they ask you about your stories the way [Trebek] does after the first commercial break on the show,” she said.

After having finished that portion of the process, contestants-to-be must wait 18 months to be notified if they will be on the show.

Therefore, “Getting ‘The Call’ seems like such a long shot, but lo and behold, toward the end of January, I got it and they asked me to come out.”

At that point, Swanson had approximately three weeks to prepare for the show. She purchased several Jeopardy! books and began to examine topics with which the show deals, such as U.S. presidents, state nicknames and Shakespeare.

On June 22, the Final Jeopardy! category was “20th Century Technology,” and the clue was, “The first major use of simultaneous translation before adoption by the United Nations (U.N.) was in this European city in 1945 and 1946.”

Swanson was the only contestant to correctly respond, “What is Nuremberg?”

One of her favorite parts of the experience was getting the chance to play the game.

“When the Jeopardy! music comes up and you’re on stage at your little podium, it’s the craziest, coolest feeling ever. I think the desire to just keep playing, more than anything, is what drives people to want to win while they’re there, because you just don’t want to have to stop,” said Swanson.

“All of my fellow contestants were great, too. Since you’re sitting around in the studio all day, waiting to get called for a game, you have time to get to know each other a bit,” she said.

“Winning was also pretty great, too, the first game especially, since it was such a surprise.  It was such a thrilling moment,” said Swanson.

The three-day champion won a total of $48,000, as of the show which aired on Monday, June 25.

At present, Trebek, 71, is recovering from a mild heart attack.  However, he is expected to recover in time to begin filming the next season of Jeopardy! in July, according to a statement by Sony Pictures/Television.