Feel Good Friday: Columbus caregiver makes appearance on Jeopardy!

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) – One local substitute teacher is now a national game show contender, WRBL’s Blake Eason has her journey to Jeopardy! for this week’s Feel-Good Friday.

Meet Suzy Garver, a substitute in the Muscogee County school system, and now a contestant on Jeopardy.

“It’s great to think I was there on that stage, it’s crazy,” Garver said. “It’s a bucket list item that’s actually done.”

Originally from Oregon but moved to Georgia at the beginning of the pandemic to be closer to family, Garver says that’s when the dream started to become real.

“My dad who’s quite sick, so Jeopardy! is our evening ritual and something we do every night,” Garver said.

From serving as a caregiver to now severing as a contestant on one of America’s biggest game shows, Garver knows her father has been with her every step of the way.

“He’s very excited, unfortunately he’s in the hospital right now, so he won’t be able to watch with us, even if he’s not able to fully get it, he was with me in spirit,” Garver said. “We were watching the show and I went on the show, that’s a lot to take in.”

While Garver has called Columbus home for two years now, she’s also found a second home in the North Columbus Public Library to study for the big quiz.

“How does one prepare? I wish I knew,” Garver joked.

Studying in the library has it’s perks, Garver began by reading a few books from a familiar face in the world of Jeopardy.

“Ken Jennings who was the goat of Jeopardy!, he wrote a series called, Junior Genius Guides, which was actually really useful,” Garver said.

The jam-packed study sessions would lead Garver to finishing second on the night of her debut, but above all she’s thrilled she buzzed in for such a big moment.

“I’m most proud that I like stuck with it and with the ups and the downs, like you know forgetting my garment bag, and feeling like I’m a child who somehow got on this show with all these really smart people,” Garver said. “I know that one point in my life that would have really shaken me and maybe discombobulated me and now I just didn’t let it get to me.”

What started as a lofty idea at the beginning of the pandemic while taking care of her father, eventually would become a dream realized.

Congratulations, Suzy! As always, you can watch Jeopardy! right here on WRBL, weeknights at 7/6 central.