Andy

## Survivor Career

**Andy** played on Survivor: The Rings of Saturn, where he placed 13th.

## Profile

**Tell us as much or as little as you want about yourself**

My name is Andy. I'm a 29 year old male (he/him) and I live just north of Boston - so EST time zone. Usually I work during the day from like 8 to 4. I'm a software trainer at a hospital in Boston. However, I'm currently furloughed so my normal schedule is all out of whack because of COVID-19. I also have a pregnant wife - we're six weeks away from the due date - so that also throws things off sometimes. I'm doing house prep stuff during the day. It's a process for sure. I use this emoji a lot 😤 because it makes me laugh and my favorite GIF? Well that's this one

**Have you played any orgs before? If yes, how many and what did you play most recently? Are you playing any others at the same time as this one?**

I've played a whole bunch of ORGS now. My first one was in the summer of 2018. I played a super small ORG that didn't even have specs. That sort of taught me the ins and outs and since then I've played a whole bunch of varying sizes. My best placement is 1st - I won Coolvivor: Hyrule. My worst placement is 15th which I got in both CharitORG: Comebacks and Slowvivor: Borneo. My most recent ORG experience was getting 9th place in Natvivor: Journey Through the Universe. So that's a pretty decent placement for a space themed ORG and maybe that'll carry over! However, that was a Blood vs Water which I think definitely threw off my usual game so I'll have to keep that in mind. This will be the only ORG I play while I'm still in. I once played three ORGs at once and it broke my brain so now I strictly do one at a time. That was a dark time. We won't revisit it.

**Give us your most unpopular Survivor opinion**

I suppose my most "unpopular" opinion is that the right person always wins. I'm never one to argue that a winner is weak or shouldn't have won. If you can get to the end and get the votes then you're the worthy winner and that's that. If a jury is bitter, you have to know how to manage that and that's on you for not realizing that emotions are the main part of the game. To me, Survivor isn't about big flashy moves or blindsides. It's about emotional arcs and connections. If you can't keep that in check, you're never ever going to win the game. You can't just be a robot!

**What is your coolest party trick? Any unusual talents?**

I don't really have any weird talents outside of being decent at pub trivia? Side note, I forgot to note that I have two other "jobs" - pub trivia host and professional wrestling commentator. I can also bend my thumbs back to my wrists but that will get me nowhere in life. I have normal talents though! I play instruments and I sang a cappella in college so I'm musically inclined! I also am a 29 year old who still has a bunch of phone numbers memorized. If my phone died, I'D BE OKAY. And that may sound like a weird thing to brag about, but I know people who don't even know their parents' phone numbers and that's bad. That's really bad.

**What is your favorite piece of sci-fi or space-related media?**

I. LOVE. SCI-FI. Star Wars? Star Trek? I choose both. I'm currently reading through the Dark Horse Knights of the Old Republic comic book series as we speak. My favorite sci-fi book is probably Hyperion by Dan Simmons which is essentially the Canterbury Tales but in space. It's good stuff. I also really like Neal Stephenson and will read anything he writes. His stuff truly varies. I also recommend Redshirts by John Scalzi for a fun meta commentary on mainstream sci-fi TV!

**What have you been doing to stay busy during the quarantine? What can you not wait to do again?**

So quarantine time has been eaten up by catching up on shows that I've been putting off. I'm on Jessica Jones season 3 now and my wife and I are watching Schitt's Creek. I've also been reading a lot and, as I said earlier, getting the house ready for a newborn! That's on top of desperately hoping every day that my job is going to take me back soon. Hopefully soon since everything is starting to reopen! I think I'm just looking forward to being able to spend actual time with family again. We were going to my wife's parents' house every week before all this happened but with her pregnant and more susceptible to getting sick, we've just been cooped up inside. Family is super important to both of us and especially with a kid coming, it's hard to imagine a world where our parents may not even get to meet their grandson. So hopefully it gets better soon. I'm optimistic but it's been really hard!

**Do you watch the Olympics? If so what is your favorite sport to watch? What's the lamest to watch?**

The Olympics are very good. I don't necessarily think the compelled patriotism is important, but it's fun to have a built in rooting interest and I just like sports in general. I love the obscure sports, those are my favorite to watch. For the summer, my favorite is Team Handball and for the winter my favorite is the Biathalon. I want the weirdest sports possible that air at like 1 AM local time because they don't get the primetime slots.

**If you were asked to give a presentation on something random that you are an expert in, what would you talk about?**

If I had to give an expert presentation, I'd give it on American Independent Professional Wrestling. I'm a big pro wrestling fan, and do commentary for a small company based out of New Jersey. That itself is a ton of fun. But I'm a big fan of indie wrestling in general - so not necessarily WWE or the other companies on TV (which I do watch), but the small companies that run shows in front of 100-200 people. Those are the most fun and what I like watching the most. It's also what I have the most useless information stored up in my brain about. I'm a encyclopedia for it and it's bad. I wish it wasn't the case but I've been watching consistently since I was 12 so there's no turning back now.

**Of the three tenets of Survivor, which one do you think you’re the best at: Outwitting, Outplaying, or Outlasting?**

My best talent in ORGs is being able to just blend in and go with the flow which definitely falls into the Outlast category. I'm not a challenge beast and although I'd like to think I'm smart, I'm not some sort of master strategist either. I'm good at managing my threat level and going with the tides when I need to. I know how to lay low and that usually works well for me. It's a reflection of my real life personality too. I'm very much a go with the flow type of person. I'm easy going, I'm easy to talk to, and I'm conflict averse. Those things usually spell out a good recipe for these games because if you can get along with everyone, and more importantly not actually offend anyone, you're going to get far in this game as long as you're not actively bringing the tribe down.

**How is that going to help you win Survivor: Rings of Saturn?**

I'm hoping that this translates well to Rings of Saturn. This game already feels different for me. I only know two people on the cast which barely ever happens. I've been in the same circles of players for a long time and I'm so excited to get outside of that. It's a new excited feeling and I just want to get to know new people! Hopefully that willingness will translate to a deep run in this game.

## Stats

 Days Played
 Votes Against
 Individual Immunity Wins
 Idols Found
 Votes Negated
 Advantages