Ames resident, Des Moines school counselor enjoys appearance on 'Jeopardy!' Wednesday

“What is … a once in a lifetime opportunity?” Emily Hackbarth asked her Facebook friends last weekend.

It was her way of announcing that she was going to be a contestant on “Jeopardy!” on Wednesday.

A 2013 graduate of Ames High School, Hackbarth is a counselor at Harding Middle School in Des Moines. She got her bachelor's degree at Iowa State University and her master's at Buena Vista University.

Spoiler alert: Hackbarth was ahead during parts of Wednesday’s game show but finished in second place. She made a good showing, earning $2,800 after the final Jeopardy round. She took home a $2,000 prize.

She told the Ames Tribune she plans to use the money to buy something special that will always remind her of her "Jeopardy!" experience.

Hackbarth has been a “Jeopardy!” fan since she was a little girl and would watch with her grandparents, Chuck and Jan Eilers, of Creston.

She wasn't the best at it as a little kid, she said, because she didn't know very many of the answers at the time.

"As I've gotten older, I'm a big reader and just enjoy learning random facts," she said. "I like to read random things on Wikipedia."

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For years — even as they were just dating — Emily and her husband, Zack, have competed against each other as they watched the show.

"I got better at it, and at some point, my grandmother told me I should try out for it," she said.

"I think my grandma has called everyone she's ever met in her life to tell them to make an announcement at their church" that I was on the show, Hackbarth added.

Hackbarth went through several steps to become a contestant, and at each stage she thought maybe that was the end of the road. There was testing, auditioning and eventually her name went into a pool of potential contestants, where it could stay for up to 18 months.

The 18 months ended this month. She got the call in July and said she couldn't believe it was for real. "It's all been so surreal and so much fun," she said.

"Everything that happened along the way was kind of a surprise," Hackbarth said. "There were a lot of times when I thought it was the end of the road, but then I'd get word that I was on to the next stage."

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The filming took place in Culver City, a suburb of Los Angeles, California. Hackbarth said it was just like it is on TV. The music that plays during the final round actually plays in the studio while contestants scribble their answer, she said.

One thing that was different was that announcer, Johnny Gilbert, who is in his 90s, doesn't announce live.

"So hearing that today on TV, to hear my name get called was really cool. Otherwise things really are the way they seem on TV," Hackbarth said.

Ronna Faaborg is a reporter for the Ames Tribune, covering business and the arts. Reach her at rlawless@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: 'Jeopardy!' features an Ames resident. How did Emily Hackbarth do?