Beavercreek native wins scholarship money after competing on NBC’s ‘Capital One College Bowl’

According to NBC, teams must work together to test their knowledge in a wide variety of subjects in a five-round tournament. The top two teams will advance to the final where they will compete for the “Capital One College Bowl” trophy and scholarship money.

Cohen competed on Ohio State’s team against Notre Dame with Noah Adams from Columbus and Roxanne Tang from Algonquin, Illinois, in the first round that aired Friday, Sept. 9.

After multiple rounds of trivia during kickoff, a student verses student showdown and a two minute drill, Notre Dame came out on top with a score of 430. Ohio State’s score was 325. The team did not move on to the next round.

Cohen told Dayton.com trivia is not new to her. She participated in Quiz Bowl all four years at Beavercreek High School and even helped her team win its first national Quiz Bowl championship in 2019.

“I’ve always been very competitive by nature,” Cohen said. “I am the youngest of five siblings.”

Cohen said she enjoys trivia because it’s a gateway to learning other things you may like. For example, literature is one of her favorite trivia categories because she was able to find some of her favorite authors and books by reading summaries.

“To be able to have that outlet where I was able to discover my love for literature and be able to compete, it was fantastic,” Cohen said.

The interview and tryout process happened via Zoom. Cohen said it didn’t feel real until she went to film the show in an actual studio.

“Something I don’t tell a lot of people because it seems so unrealistic is I want to be an actress,” Cohen said.

She noted during filming she enjoyed the experience of seeing stage managers on set and being surrounded by multiple cameras.

“Being in a studio in front of cameras, it was awesome,” Cohen said. “I would like to do scripted television as an actress.”

Cohen is majoring in Biology and Neuroscience and minoring in Spanish. She said she plans to go to medical school to specialize in neuropathology and develop research and treatments for neurodegenerative diseases.

In her free time, Cohen enjoys being a part of the university’s mock trial team and coaching Dublin Jerome High School’s mock trial team. She also volunteers on the university’s academic team.

If you missed Cohen on NBC’s “Capital One College Bowl” on Friday, you can watch the episode on www.nbc.com/capital-one-college-bowl or stream it on Peacock.