ASU student competes as one of 'world's smartest people' in new season of Amazon Prime's 'Beast Games'
ASU doctoral student Samantha Harker is interviewed by "Beast Games" host and YouTube personality James Donaldson, also known as MrBeast, during the second season of the show. Photo courtesy Amazon Prime
Samantha Harker was 13 years old when she decided to challenge herself.
Harker, who is in her fourth year of her PhD in neuroscience at Arizona State University, where she’s researching autism and aging, knew at a young age that she was gifted.
She scored in the 98th percentile in mathematics on the GATE Exam — the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering — earned a perfect score twice in California state testing for mathematics, and while being assessed by a psychiatrist for neurodivergency, was told that she had autism and possessed “savant-level intellectual skills and near-eidetic memory.”
The challenge? Oh, nothing really. Harker just memorized 1,294 digits in three days for a pi memorization competition.
“I felt like I excelled at remembering numbers,” Harker says.
You think?
So, when Amazon Prime Video was seeking contestants for its second season of "Beast Games," a Survivor-type competition that pits 100 of the smartest people in the world with 100 of the strongest — Harker wanted in.
She submitted a video application in which she recited about 150 digits of pi from memory, went through an interview process and eventually was invited to be on the show, which premiered Jan. 7 on Amazon Prime and awards a $5 million prize.
“I watched Season One of the show and thought the concept was really interesting,” Harker said. “Many of the challenges in Season One dealt with agility, quick thinking, as well as problem solving. I was excited to apply because of these large-scale challenges.
“Additionally, I applied in hopes to win the grand prize of $5 million and develop support programs for older autistic adults, congruent with my PhD research, as there is limited funding in this area.”
Harker said her experience on the show was positive.
She became friends with several of the competitors — “I think it was really unique to bond with others over these challenges,” she said — and enjoyed the challenges, one of which involved a tower of colored blocks. The blocks were knocked over, and players had a limited time to recreate the towers from memory. Those who failed to match the tower exactly were eliminated.
Harker said she was surprised by the amount of time filming took. A challenge that lasted just a few minutes on TV could take 12 or more hours to film. In addition, much of the filming was done at night.
“One of the hardest adjustments was the inverse sleep schedule and being unplugged from reality,” she said. “We turned in our devices and had no communication outside of the games. It is also mind-boggling to be inside of the game and the intensity that comes along with that mindset.”
Harker said that when she was diagnosed with autism as a teenager, it motivated her to accelerate her educational timeline because she wanted to begin supporting the autism community as soon as possible.
She started taking community college classes at the age of 14, graduated high school at 16, attended two universities simultaneously and earned bachelor’s degrees in English (from ASU) and medical humanities when she was 18 years old.
“There are limited resources available for the older autistic population, especially women, and I wanted to help curate tools to support (them),” Harker said. “I think my biggest goal has been to help others understand the divergence of autism. The spectrum of autism means that no individual is identical, and there are a variety of symptom presentations and support needs.”
Harker said that women are often told they don’t “look autistic.” To clear up those misconceptions, Harker has shared her own experiences on outlets like the Organization for Autism Research and given a TEDx Talk titled, “I DO Look Autistic.”
“I hope that my research and my presence on the show help demonstrate the diversity of autism and helps others understand that support can help everyone thrive, regardless of your neurocognitive status,” Harker said.
“Additionally, I hope that my intentions are shown and that viewers can see the bonds that the cast formed with one another. One of my favorite parts of this experience is the friendships I made, and I am grateful to have met so many exceptional people.”
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