Arvind Venkataraman with host Chris Harrison
One of Southlake's own isbrgoing for big bucks on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” Arvind Venkataraman, abr2012 Carroll graduate and founder of Apollo Tutors, will appear on the famousbrquiz show on October 14. Tune in to KTXA 21 at 6:30 p.m. to cheer him on! Here’sbra sneak peek of the show. We caught up with Venkataraman to hear about hisbrexperience and just how he would spend a million bucks.
Southlake Style: What was the selection process like?
Venkataraman: It was a lot of fun and required a lot of discovery of both myself andbrworking with different producers. About a week after I applied online, I got abrcall from ABC asking if I had time to chat. Next thing I knew, it was the screeningbrinterview and they scheduled a Skype interview for me to take the MillionairebrTest, pretend like I was on TV, and then they asked me if I would high five orbrhug Chris, scream or dance. I said I’d do all of them.
Afterbrthe Skype screening, they notified me that I was in the contestant's pool andbrwould be on the show some time in two years. Then finally, I got the call tobrcome to Vegas to film the episode, and it was all trivia from there. Thousands of peoplebrtake the test and hundreds are in the contestant pool. I honestly did notbrexpect to get selected so quickly for this season.
SS: Tell us a littlebrabout your preparation for the show.
Venkataraman: My goal was to try tobrget immersed in a little bit of everything, but not spend too much time on onebrparticular resource. I watched almost all the reruns from Chris Harrison’s version, as wellbras old episodes from past winners and from previous hosts. After a few weeks, Ibrran out of reruns and started watching the Indian version of “Who Wants to be abrMillionaire” with my parents to keep practicing. I also used trivia apps on mybrphone to make my leisure time into trivia time.
Mybrformer debate coach Jason Warren was a quiz master at trivia nights in Dallas,brso going to those really helped me practice some of the more obscure questions.brOutside of trivia, I also studied my Greek roots, capitals, flags and top 10brlists to build some knowledge that I could use to get context clues. I also asked some of mybrtutors from Apollo Tutors for specific information on chemistry, math, biologybrand business to learn more from the experts.
SS: Any audition tips you can share?
Venkataraman: Don’t get too careful with trivia apps—they usually just ask for onebrspecific fact. The questions on “Millionaire” usually require knowing one factbrto filter through the answers and figure out the right answer. And have fun with the questions. Many people can getbrthe trivia questions right, but the team also looks for your personality andbrthe thought process to find the answer. Why are you uniquely the right personbrto be on the show versus all the other smart people? Be persistent. Thebrwhole audition process is kind of mysterious, and you have to follow up andbrstay on top of it to make sure you’re on track.
SS: Did any of the questions surprise you?
Venkataraman: Oh yeah! When they asked me which government agency’s training facilitybrwas in Quantico and where Priyanka Chopra plays Agent Alex Parrish, Ibrimmediately knew the answer. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an FBI agent, andbrPriyanka Chopra is also my favorite Bollywood actress. That question was almostbrserendipitous.
SS: How would you describe your overall experience?
Venkataraman: The whole experience was surreal and a lot of fun. The audition processbrwas really intense and I wanted to put my best foot forward. But once we werebrin the studio and amongst the other contestants, it was a blast getting to knowbreveryone.
SS: Were you nervous? Excited? Both?
Venkataraman: Both! Mainly excited but also nervous. I didn’t want to mess up onbrnational television. Also, I’ve never worn makeup before and was worried thatbrit was going to melt on me during the show. During our training, the producersbrmentioned that when you’re on the stage and the lights turn on, all the meatbrfrom your brain falls out—and that was definitely what it felt like when I firstbrgot out on the stage. But once the crowd started cheering, Chris started doingbrhis announcements and the questions popped up, I was ready to roll.
SS: What's Chris Harrison like in person?
Venkataraman: Chris Harrison is one of the most genuine people that I’ve met and wasbrextremely friendly. He asked me about what I did and where I went to school,brand he even recognized Southlake for our strong sports and academic programs. Ibrwas captain of the debate team. Turns out, Chris is also a Dallas native frombrLake Highlands, and he lives a few miles down the road from my neighborhood.
SS: So, what would you do with $1 million?
Venkataraman: I would donate some to education charities because the achievement gapbrin education in the United States is a cause that is dear to me. I’d also givebrback to my parents for bringing me to life and bankrolling my education. My dreambris to buy a parking garage and build a real estate empire of residential andbrparking garage properties.
SS: Anything else you'dbrlike to mention?
Venkataraman: I want to thank my plus-one and fellow Carroll alum Tim Dominguez forbrpreparing and going to the show with me. We’ve been friends since our days atbrDawson Middle School. Also, the Bollywood /brQuantico star Priyanka Chopra replied to my promo video. She thought my answerbrwas hilarious! Day made.
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