“Don’t quit your day job” is a piece of advice that is usually doled out in a snarky kind of way. But Amy Schneider’s record-breaking run as a contestant on Jeopardy! has put her in the rare position where stepping away from the 9 to 5 drill could prove to be a very smart, and lucrative, move. So she has gone ahead and done just that, as she announced on Twitter late Tuesday afternoon
Some of you may have heard, but I quit my day job yesterday! It’s a bit nerve-wracking to pivot from software engineer to… public figure, I guess? But regardless of the outcome I’m so excited to spend the next couple years at least tackling this new challenge!
— Amy Schneider (@Jeopardamy) February 8, 2022
As the New York Post reports, Schneider won just under $1.4 million during her impressive 40-game Jeopardy! winning streak, making her the winningest woman in the beloved game show’s history. And now she’s ready to try and parlay the attention she has drawn to leave her full-time gig as a software engineer and see what life is like as a “public figure.” Just what that entails is a still a bit of a question mark for Schneider, though she has shared that she has always wanted to write a book and is using her newfound free time to finally put together a proposal.
She also recently told the New York Post that she’s looking to do some traveling with her partner, Genevieve Davis, and it looks like Ireland might be first on their to do list. “I mentioned on the show that we wanted to go to Ireland, and while we’re still finalizing it, it’s looking like we’ll be there for St. Patrick’s Day,” Schneider said.
While Schneider has said that she believes interim host (and fellow former champ) Ken Jennings is the ideal person to become the permanent host of Jeopardy!, she also wouldn’t be against trying to fit into Alex Trebek’s shoes and host the show herself. “Whether I’d actually even be good at it, I don’t know,” she said. “But yeah, I‘d certainly consider it if somebody asked.”
(Via New York Post)