Man Who Won Big on Jeopardy Got His Start in Herndon School System

HERNDON, VA — A Virginia Commonwealth University student took home more than $30,000 over three days on the popular game show Jeopardy! recently, and it was right here in Herndon where he got his appetite for trivia.

Siddharth Hariharan is a 22-year-old medical student at VCU who won his first two games on Jeopardy! before finishing in second place on the third day of the competition in September. Hariharan moved to Herndon in 2004 and attended Rachel Carson Middle School and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology. It was there that he competed in academic Quiz Bowl competitions for one of Virginia's top teams, according to a profile posted by Fairfax County.

Hariharan always had a big interest in trivia, watching Jeopardy! from a young age with his parents. Now, his parents get to see it all come full circle, and Hariharan describes them as "second-hand celebrities" in Herndon due to his own success.

Hariharan received a call in early June confirming that he would be on the show, and he flew to Los Angeles for filming in July.

“It was really intimidating watching the game before mine because I saw who won and how smart they were,” he said in the profile. “But it goes by so quickly and I didn’t have time to be nervous. I didn’t have many expectations going in, but I really wanted to win at least one game and whatever happened after that was a bonus.”

Hariharan ended up earning $21,601 in the first game, $6,534 in the second game, and $2,000 in the final game.

Image via Fairfax County