AMHERST, N.Y. (WIVB) — It was, in her words, “a little bizarre” the first time Pam Sung competed on Jeopardy!, in an episode that aired in February 2021.

Sung, an Amherst resident, had been auditioning for the show since she was a teenager, making it into mock game sessions twice before she got the call to make her debut.

But when that call came, the world was still heavily gripped by the COVID-19 pandemic. No one had been vaccinated yet and it was Sung’s first time on a plane since the virus overtook much of the world.

As a mother, it made her nervous to leave her family at a time like this. Everyone on the Los Angeles set kept distanced, there was no audience and not long before this, longtime host Alex Trebek had just passed away.

Played on the “Wheel of Fortune” soundstage, complete with a sign telling people to not touch the famous wheel, Sung played against two other contestants like one usually sees on TV, but unfortunately for her, it didn’t result in a victory.

Geographic namesakes happened to be the topic of the “Final Jeopardy” question that day, which Sung admits is not one of her strong points.

Despite that, the Roswell Park physician-scientist got another shot, competing in a Second Chance Tournament episode set to air this Wednesday night.

As a leukemia physician who also serves as the head of a laboratory researching new treatments for blood cancers, it’s fair to say Sung’s got a lot of knowledge in her head. But even as a doctor, it’s hard to be 100 percent prepared for the ever-popular game show.

“It’s kind of just a lifetime of remembering random stuff,” Sung laughed. “There’s not really any preparation that you can really do to gather the breadth of knowledge that is required for Jeopardy!”

With one appearance already under her belt, this latest Jeopardy! stint was a little more relaxed, for more reasons than one. Contestants no longer had to eat in the parking lot, for instance.

This time, Sung could hang out in the green room, watching the shows and eating snacks with her new friends as they prepared to compete for cash. That wasn’t all. Now with an audience, Sung says her parents even got to come watch her play.

“It was a lifelong dream of mine and I get to be one of the few people who gets to do it twice,” Sung said.

The Jeopardy! process moves fast, with host Ken Jennings going through episodes rather quickly, Sung says.

“You’re just so focused on the game board and they specifically design it so you’re facing the game board and not the audience,” Sung said. “It’s over before you even know it.”

Obviously, you’re not going to find any spoilers about Wednesday’s episode here, but Sung says her goal this round wasn’t different than the first time.

“My main goal was not to look like an idiot,” she said. “I hope I succeeded with that again.”

Jeopardy! airs weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on CBS.