If you don't know the name Julia Collins, you're clearly not a Jeopardy fan. Julia just wrapped up a historic run on the show, winning more games and money than any other female contestant. She nabbed a total of 20 victories (the second-most consecutive wins, behind only Ken Jennings) and $428,100 (making her the third-highest money winner in non-tournament play ever).
Clearly, "Jeopardy Julia" has a naturally exceptional memory. "I woke up [the other] morning, and I thought, 'Oh, it's this girl I went to elementary school with's birthday today,'" she says. "I haven’t seen her in probably 15 years, and that's still in there." But she also puts some really good information-retention tricks to use—ones that even non-Jeopardy champions can take advantage of:
Read, Read, Then Read Some More
"I read a ton," says Julia. "That's really my biggest hobby. I love to read, and I'll read just about anything: newspapers, magazines, celebrity gossip Web sites, novels, nonfiction, this, that, and the other." All that reading means Julia is exposed to tons of different facts. But perhaps even more importantly, it means she's exposed to them over and over again. Think about it: How many times have you read about the Kimye wedding recently? You know those deets like you know your phone number. So imagine if that repetition trick extended to other topics. It definitely served Julia well on Jeopardy: "I'm not a college football fan at all," she says, but on an episode that aired on May 21, there was a category of Heisman Trophy winners—and Julia got one right. "(Tim Tebow) got so much press for so long that even though I don't care about college foo tball at all, I knew who Tim Tebow was and where he went to school."
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...And Then Write It Down
Julia says she took "copious notes" when she was studying for her Jeopardy appearances. "I retain things that I read," says Julia, "but I retain them better when I write them down. I think that's the way they get into my brain." And she's not talking typing. "I have to hand write them. It's horrible scribblings in notebooks—I go back to review them, and I can't even really read them—but just writing them down really helps me a lot," she says. So whip out those ballpoint pens, and think of this as an excuse to buy a cute new notepad!
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Give It Some Context
It's much easier to recall something if it's not just a random fact, says Julia. "Finding a way to make the information meaningful to you is a big part of remembering it, I think." For example, when learning about history, Julia says she focuses on things being interrelated. So instead of just trying to memorize your friend's birthdate, for example, give it some context. Think about how last year she had a joint Oscars party/birthday bash—that way it's part of a series of interconnected events, and you'll never forget roughly where it falls on the calendar.
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