(WAND) — Central Illinois residents will get to see one of their own on Jeopardy! this week.
Springfield native, Yogesh Raut won big on Wednesday with a final score of $41,601. He followed suit on Thursday, winning $33,601. Friday's score of $21,201 earns him an invite back on Monday. He goes into the new week $96,403 richer.
Regarding the experience of appearing on national television, Raut said the following via email,
"I’ve gotten tons of social media comments and messages from people I’ve met at every phase of my life, including people I know from Springfield and people who still reside in Springfield (including, of course, my parents)."
Raut and his family moved to Springfield in 1985 when he was one year old. His mother worked at HSHS St. Johns Hospital as a neonatologist.
He attended Springfield High School before transferring to the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora where he graduated.
Raut should be well prepared for the game show given his experience with Scholastic Bowl, Geography Bee, Spelling Bee, and chess. In addition to his extracurricular experience, Raut has earned a BA in Psychology from Stanford, an MA in Cinematic Arts from USC, an MA in Psychology from NYU, and an MBA.
"People call this activity 'trivia,' but it’s anything but trivial," said Raut via email. "Indeed, it’s the one kind of cognition that machines can’t duplicate, because it’s based on finding things interesting."
He currently works as a freelance writer, blogger, and podcaster.
"The process of preparing for 'Jeopardy!' is really just the process of focusing on the interesting parts of the world, reflecting on what makes them interesting, and doing my best to communicate that interestingness to others (i.e., the same things I do every day)."
WAND viewers can watch Raut compete again at 3:30 p.m. this Friday.
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