In an interview with BuzzFeed News on Thursday, Schneider said she and her girlfriend watched Wednesday’s episode with friends, toasting champagne for her “wrap party.” The last 24 hours had been a whirlwind of media interviews and messages from friends and fans.
“I’m looking forward to having some time to sit down and process everything,” Schneider said. “One thing that is nice is I don’t have to keep anything a secret anymore. That was a real struggle these last three months.”
The 43-year-old Oakland software engineer ultimately left Jeopardy with $1,382,800 in total winnings. She told BuzzFeed News that when she first started playing, the money only felt like a score. But now, in addition to validating how well she played the game, that huge sum of winnings will allow her to do things she’d long dreamed of, like take her family on a European vacation or put a down payment on some property.
“Beyond that, it means that I’ve got some freedom now,” she added. “I’m staying at my current job for the moment — just in case my employer is watching — but I’m looking at what other opportunities are out there. I’m going to see what develops. If I do decide I want to seek a career change of any kind, I’ve got a little cushion to take that chance.”
Schneider’s run as champion was second only to Ken Jennings, who won 74 consecutive games in 2004 and is currently serving as a fill-in host on the show, following the death of Alex Trebek.
“Of all the Jeopardy! greats, I’ve never seen anyone that played the game with the kind of unflappable ease that Amy Schneider always seemed to have,” Jennings wrote on Twitter after the episode. “I’m dazzled by her talent, of course, but also by how she was always so authentically and straightforwardly herself as her streak aired. What a champ!”