‘another adventure, another laugh’

Until a few weeks ago, CBS’s "The Amazing Race" boasted a JMU alumna. Bianca Smith (‘01) and her best friend Debbie Cloyed competed on the show for three weeks and won $10,000 each before they were eliminated on March 15.

A Woodbridge native, Smith is now living in the D.C. area and teaching English for speakers of other languages at a local high school. She was a member of Amnesty International as well as Alpha Sigma Tau sorority while at JMU.

"I loved everything about my time at JMU. It’s such a well-rounded experience," she said. "I especially miss this time of year, when everyone’s out on the Quad. I’m a teacher now, and I always talk JMU up to my students."

At JMU, Smith majored in International Affairs and minored in both Art History and Spanish.

"The Spanish helped me during the first episode in Lima, Peru, where we won the money," Smith said. "I’m confident that’s one of the reasons we won first place in that episode." Besides Lima, Smith and Cloyed traveled to Arequipa, Peru and Santiago, Chile while competing on the show.

Traveling was not new to Smith before she joined the "Race." "I did a semester in Salamanca while I was at JMU, and I guess you could say that’s where I got bit by the travel bug," she said.

Smith had visits to 25 countries under her belt before she and Cloyed decided to send in a video to "The Amazing Race."

"Traveling is our passion, so we figured this would just be one of many adventures, except on someone else’s buck," she said. "We were actually leaving for Honduras the day that we sent the video in, and when we got back, we received a phone call that they wanted to interview us. They called us in a few more times after that, and then we got chosen."

Although they were eliminated after only three weeks, Smith wasn’t completely crushed. "Debbie and I just considered it another adventure, another laugh. We had a great time with all of the other contestants," she said.

Smith especially enjoyed couples Lynn and Alex, and Meredith and Gretchen, and hopes that one of them will make it to the end. "Everyone was just wonderful," Smith said. "I know that there is tons of media coverage on Rob and Amber, who were on ‘Survivor.’ Sure, they were a little bit sly on our show, but I just figure they have their own way of playing. They didn’t bother us at all."

She and Cloyed, best friends for 20 years, are in the process of pitching a reality show of their own. "The premise is that we will visit less ‘touristy’ countries and learn about life there. It has a benevolent element to it," said Smith.