Bazil Frueh: This following story contains spoilers for various seasons of Survivor Northwestern… please be advised.
[music: “Ancient Voices” by Russ Landau]
Sophia Casa: Have you ever considered voluntarily marooning yourself on a deserted island? A deserted island where you’re left to starve and freeze with a group of people you’ve never met before? And, among that group of people, you’re expected to make alliances and plans to vote someone off that island until there’s only one person left: the Sole Survivor?
BF: We, strangely, have. But starving sounds like a lot, and I really enjoy the warmth of my bed. So how can you play Survivor without getting sent to the beaches of Fiji?
SC: Thankfully, Northwestern has a club for that: Survivor Northwestern. Described as aiming “to serve those interested in production and entertainment, creating a diverse and inclusive community for lovers of reality television,” the club puts on seasons of the show for students to outwit, outplay, and outlast each other each year.
BF: Survivor Northwestern’s first season began filming the winter of 2020. Originally featuring a cast of 22, the franchise has since gone on to feature 121 Northwestern students, growing a tight-knit community around all things Survivor and reality TV related.
SC: The franchise is now on its eighth installment. Titled Sink or Swim, the season features nautical theming, and, more notably, Bazil and I as castaways.
BF: In honor of “Unlikely Allies,” we wanted to recount our experiences playing the iconic game full of alliances, blindsides, and backstabbing, and also speak to production and fellow cast members alike to get a sense about what makes being a part of the club so meaningful.
RYAN KESSLER: When I got admitted to Northwestern before coming to the school, I saw that they had a survivor club where you could play or produce seasons with college students and I was like, oh, that’d be so cool to get to my own chance to play without actually being on, you know, the real CBS show where you have to starve on an island.
SC: That’s McCormick senior and current club president Ryan Kessler. He placed second on season four and then went on to join the production team there after.
RK: It’s the only club I’m in that’s not really for any sort of academic or career purpose and for that reason it’s like far and away my favorite club that I’m involved in on campus because I think it’s just such a special community where so many people that I’ve met and become really good friends with over the last three, four years are people that I maybe would not have interacted with.
BF: Weinberg first-year Laurel Buescher, who competed in season 8 with us, shared similar reasons on why she joined.
LAUREL BUESCHER: I love Survivor, the TV show, and, you know, while watching, you’re always like, wow, I would be so good at this and I love a competition, and I love meeting people, and it just seems like a really great group of people to get to know on campus. And also, you know, test my prowess and see if I can do well. Spoiler alert, I did not.
SC: Survivor can also be a way of connecting people in surprising ways who would never met, and as it turns out, during gameplay Buescher[BISCHER] and I discovered we had a big thing in common.
SC: At a point in the game, we ended up on the same team. And through talking, we found out that we are from the same place, which is Cleveland, Ohio.
LB:Yes, hashtag go guards.
SC: Yes. And we, we found out that we knew like people in common who went to high school together
SC: While Buescher didn’t end up making it to the merge, her Survivor journey may not be over yet. When asked whether she was considering joining production, Buescher expressed interest, citing the community that has been built around the group.
LB: I would like to join prod in the future. That’s like the other side of it where you’re kind of like behind the scenes and filming and creating everything. I think that’s exciting. It is like a really great community of people. And then you know, if there’s the option to play again, like would I take it? I would consider it.
BF: At this point, you might be wondering what it takes to get cast in a season. That’s where Medill senior Jocie Mintz comes in. Jocie is the current Head of Recruitment within the club. She also happens to be the winner of season five. Here’s what she had to say:
JOCIE MINTZ: We definitely look for people who are super gung-ho and on board with waking up at 7 a.m. and just putting aside other priorities to make Survivor their priority. And of course, we also want the club to last into the future. So we definitely keep a keen eye for people who express interest in joining the production team after they play.
SC: Mintz also pointed out that oftentimes students from across campus and schools get cast, allowing for castaways to get to meet all kinds of new people.
JM: Doing the season really exposed me to talking to a lot of people and figuring out how to connect to such a wide range of people. As I said, a lot of theater kids, and that’s not really my circle, but I loved, loved, loved meeting them and becoming friends with them.
BF: Though, the interpersonal relationship aspect of the game can be difficult. As Weinberg senior Sam Kliss described, the close relationships you form can become difficult to balance with the cutthroat nature of the game.
SAM KLISS: You do create these deep bonds, these close friendships over the course of the game. And that’s really, the votes get really difficult and you have to remind yourself not to take the game personally, but because you spend so long with everyone, it starts to feel personal and bigger than it is in a way that I think is really, really challenging.
BF: And things did get challenging. As we mentioned earlier, Sophia and I also played on a season together and knew each other going in. We were only on the same team for one round, and it sadly ended with me voting Sophia out.
SC: A betrayal I will never forget.
[music: “Big Drama” by Russ Landau]
BF: I initially became interested in playing Survivor Northwestern because of my love for the show. I actually wanted to try out for season five my freshman year but was too scared to apply. Honestly, I’m really happy I made that decision—I don’t think I was mature enough to handle that kind of dynamic at the time.
SC: This year has been a bit of a rough one for me, especially in the beginning. So, when you don’t like how things are going in your life, you change them, and Survivor Northwestern was the biggest change I could think to do. And I am so so glad I did it.
BF: Playing on this season would have to be genuinely one of the most stressful experiences of my life. It would quite literally take up most of my free time, and my roommates and friends were starting to get worried when I told them about how I’d have to wake up at 6 a.m. Just having to constantly strategize, connive, and even lie to people you barely knew too became pretty tolling.
SC: Exactly. I’d joke to my friends and people in the game that it was such a fun club until you had to go to council, then it became a full time job. My GCal was a mess of strategy sessions and challenges and councils. I was voted out pretty early on, I admittedly played too hard too fast. While my vote out was, at least from my perspective, a blindside, I distinctly remember feeling disappointed for about five minutes and then I just felt relief because it meant I was going to gain back so much free time.
BF: I was voted out and became the first member of the jury, effectively becoming the Mayor of Ponderosa. This meant that I got to host events for future jury members, including an Easter egg hunt and bowling outing. I’ve honestly been enjoying it more than being on the actual show since I’ve been able to gain such close connections with my fellow cast members.
SC: And even though I didn’t make the jury, I’ve been going to watch parties of Season 48 of the CBS Survivor with members of the cast and prod team, and have been able to maintain the connections I set up in the game. These people came into my life in a time when I really needed it and I’m really happy to say that I’ve been able to keep them in my life since my stint on the show. I’m also going to be joining the prod team for Survivor Northwestern Season 9, so I’ll be able to keep this community as I go into next year and will be able to enjoy the game, but from behind the scenes this time.
[music: “Gold” by Russ Landau]
BF: So, the question remains: did we survive?
SC: No.
BF: No.
SC: Like objectively we did not play very good games.
BF: But? Are we happy we played?
SC: Absolutely.
BF: And that’s what really matters. For WNUR News, I’m Bazil Frueh.
SC: And I’m Sophia Casa
