A Twitter bio can say a lot about a person.
In Rishab Jain’s case, it reads: "If you love me, I'm always in your heart. If you hate me, I'm always on your mind."
As a recent semifinalist in the Jeopardy! College Championship, the Georgia Institute of Technology freshman knows a thing or two about being on haters’ minds. He appeared on national television twice during the competition, which included 15 students representing different campuses.
The 18-year-old took the opportunity “to look up my name on Twitter and see what people thought of me.”
“I was taken aback at first to see some people name calling and saying borderline racist comments to some other contestants of color,” the materials science and engineering student told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
People took to Twitter to take issue with Jain’s forcefulness on the buzzer and his volume, things he attributes to the technical rules of the game and “the adrenaline of being on such a big stage.”
Time to retweet all the people who said I was way too intense (which I was, but I can’t change that side of my personality)
— Rishab Jain (@rishjain123) April 19, 2018
Instead of ignoring the comments, Jain chose to retweet the “funniest criticisms” of himself in order to show his friends and fellow jeopardy players that “the many armchair contestants will always pick apart” the players.
He shared about a dozen tweets, with people calling him weird, or “way too shouty,” or saying he “needs to chill.”
Rishab, dude chill. Kid on Jeopardy is weird to say the least
— Nic Russo (@N_Russ0) April 18, 2018
RISHAB YELLING #jeopardy
— Aslan Claire (@Lionwoman54) April 18, 2018
Rishab my dude, calm down. #jeopardy
— Nandini (@nandelabra) April 18, 2018
Jain, who comes from Memphis, Tennessee and really loves Taco Bell, made it to the semifinals by winning $20,100 in an early round. But he was defeated by another contestant with a Georgia tie.
Dhruv Gaur is a Brown University freshman from Gainesville, a city about an hour northeast of Atlanta. The pair became fast friends during the filming of the show.
Some of the internet jabs were also targeted at Gaur.
These 2 dudes in today's episode of #Jeopardy are way too shouty. You'd think a producer would gently remind them they're wearing microphones.
— Babe With The Power (@thebabewithpwr) April 18, 2018
"Alex, I take #Jeopardy Contestants That Shout for $400". pic.twitter.com/bf7Blt6ii8
— Joe Stratford (@Joe2CT) April 18, 2018
Jain said his “sense of humor, resilience and sarcasm” comes from his friends, family and others, such as his international affairs professor, Vince Pedicino.
“(Pedicino) inspired me to pay no mind to the haters, since he is arguably one of the most sarcastic yet informed people I’ve known,” Jain said.
Thankfully, there were some supportive (or mostly supportive) messages as well. Others loved his tactic of retweeting the negative Nancies instead of letting them bring him down.
Rishab on Jeopardy right now is a lil too intense but I think I love it
— Pat (@katpeehockey) April 18, 2018
Watching @rishjain123 retweet everyone critiques of his Jeopardy performance is getting me through the stress of class registration
— Elizabeth Landrum (@elizabeth4nn) April 19, 2018
They hate you cause they ain't you! Keep it moving bro! 🐐 @rishjain123
— Cameron Kinley (@ThatGuy_Cameron) April 19, 2018
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