Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - Filming

Hello, everyone! I want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support and congratulations that have come my way since my 'Millionaire' episode aired in September. I wanted to blog about my experience, but ended up taking far longer than I expected to coherently put a post together! It ended up being very long, so I've split it into three parts. I hope that you enjoy reading...perhaps it will inspire you to take the plunge and try out for the show!

Could you go an entire day--7 AM to 5 PM--without using your cell phone?

Ten hours without access to text messages, Facebook, Twitter, Snap Chat, Candy Crush, and whatever other apps you can't live without. No Google, no email, no phone calls. 

Place your phone in a closed box, drop off your belongings, and take a seat in a large and comfortable room. There are couches, pillows, and even a buffet table featuring fresh bagels and pastries. But aside from that, you're on your own. Because in addition to leaving your cell phone behind, you have to leave behind any books, knitting materials, magazines, and other sources of entertainment that you brought to the building with you. 

This is the situation that I faced when waiting to film my episode of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." And in spite of past claims to the contrary ("I could never live without my phone!"), I survived. I even learned a great lesson in the process, one that people have been trying to teach to tech addicts for years: technology really can get in the way of holding meaningful conversations with others.

Thankfully, I wasn't alone on filming day. Eight others sat in the room with me. On the surface, we didn't have much in common: we came from different cities, a variety of backgrounds, a wide span of ages. Normally, we'd each have sat in our own area of the room, phone out, headphones in, tuning out the world around us. But without distraction, we were forced to...gasp...talk to one another. Novel, right? And the more others around me shared their stories, the more I wanted to listen. 

I mean, check out the people who appear on Millionaire -- they're pretty fun, right? :)

I met some of the most interesting people I've ever spoken to while filming Millionaire. A Broadway singer.  An ex-marine who never was shot at until he left the armed forces and began working for Dish Network. Someone who had been on Jeopardy. An engineer. A mom. A young student. We each had followed a different path to Millionaire, but we were each so excited to have made it.

I won’t lie—filming day was a little bit nerve-wracking. Thanks to my father, I had some great tips to help keep me calm: Think through each question. Use your life lines wisely. Don’t taint the audience if you’re asking them to help you. Have fun. But in the back of my mind, I couldn't help but freak out. What if I got the first question wrong? What if I was convinced that an answer was right, but I was wrong? What if I made strange faces on TV? (To be honest, that last one definitely happened.)

I took many deep breaths that day. I reminded myself that it was the experience that mattered, and if I embarrassed myself, so be it. I could look back on the day and (hopefully) laugh about it in the future. And when my name was called to take the stage and start my game, I felt ready. I smoothed my green dress, steeled my nerves, and walked to meet Cedric with my head held high.