<div class="fr-view"><p><span data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US">OU student, Mike Holt, tells The Hoot all about being on Series 30 of University Challenge. You can ;</span><a href="https://www.oustudents.com/get-involved/university-challenge/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">meet the rest of the team and find out how to apply for the 2024 team on our website here</a><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335559738":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":259}'> ;</span></p>
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<p><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">";After a few Zoom calls, the first time I met the rest of the team in person was at a small coffee shop in central London just around the corner from the offices where we were due to audition having all travelled from ;different parts ;of the UK.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335559738":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":259}'> ;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">Once ;we&rsquo;d ;been ushered into the offices and the production team had introduced themselves, we sat down and started the audition. Forty ;very difficult ;questions were played on a speaker with us each writing our answers on individual sheets (no conferring!). After that, the production team chatted to us and the other team in the room, getting an idea of who we were and what we were like. It ;seemed to be ;over in a flash and I left feeling a little shell-shocked, only feeling confident I was right on a handful of answers. Taking the lift down to leave and chatting amongst ourselves and with the other team, I was heartened to find out everyone else felt the same! After a quick stop in a local pub for some team building, we all zipped off to make our journeys home.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335559738":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":259}'> ;</span></p>
<p><span data-ccp-props='{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335559738":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":259}'><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib fr-draggable wp-image-15645"><span class="fr-img-wrap" style="width: 270.979px"><img src="https://i0.wp.com/thehootstudents.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Mike-1.jpg?w=1160&;ssl=1" data-id="15645" style="width: 270px" alt="A photograph of Mike smiling at the camera, with his arms crossed." data-recalc-dims="1" class="fr-fil fr-dib"><span class="fr-inner">Mike Holt, Team Open 2023 team member</span></span></span></span><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">A couple of weeks later Ann (the team captain) got the call to say we&rsquo;d been successful and details of our filming date followed. Our weekly practices on Zoom continued to be great fun but suddenly felt like they&rsquo;d assumed much greater importance.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335559738":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":259}'> ;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">We all met again in Salford a few weeks later at the studio, full of excited apprehension. Once ;we&rsquo;d ;been briefed by members of the production team and met our opponents, we were whisked to the ;make up ;studio to get ;us ;camera ready. After a short wait, we were escorted downstairs into the studio ready to begin. ;Although the set has been redesigned for this series, it still felt familiar from watching the show at home and it was absolutely surreal walking up to the desk and seeing my name on it.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335559738":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":259}'> ;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">The rest of the studio team made their introductions and got us ready to play &#8211; I was a little starstruck meeting Roger Tilling, the ";voice of University Challenge&rdquo; who sits on a raised podium at the back of the studio calling out ;contestants ;names when they buzz in.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335559738":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":259}'> ;</span></p>
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<p>I was a little starstruck meeting Roger Tilling, the ";voice of University Challenge&rdquo; who sits on a raised podium at the back of the studio calling out contestants names when they buzz in.</p>
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<p><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">A test of the buzzers and a few practice questions followed and then we were off, giving our introductions and finally playing our first starter for ten! ;Anyone who&rsquo;s watched the new series will have seen how keen Amol is to really ramp up the pace and get as many questions in as possible and I definitely felt the pressure. ;The half hour of questions went by in a flash, it seemed like only moments before the gong rang to mark the end of the game.</span><span data-ccp-props='{"134233117":false,"134233118":false,"201341983":0,"335559738":0,"335559739":0,"335559740":259}'> ;</span></p>
<p><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">You&rsquo;ll have to watch the programme to see how we did but I left with a new found respect for people who excel on TV quiz shows &#8211; it&rsquo;s an awful lot harder answering the questions when you&rsquo;re not sat on the sofa at home! It was a real once in a lifetime experience and I&rsquo;m so grateful I got the chance to do it as part of a brilliant team of fantastic people.";</span></p>
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<p><span data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US">It was a real once in a lifetime experience and I&rsquo;m so grateful I got the chance to do it as part of a brilliant team of fantastic people.</span></p>
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