I love the show "Survivor". I've watched it since the first season, and never tire of watching how people interact. When I started back to college in the fall of 2003, I was drawn to the parallels between it and my academic life. Those people, every dang time, would start the game fresh, clean, full of hope, and full of energy; that's how I started each term. As the season went on, they became tired, run-down, dirtier, and cynical; that was pretty much me in the middle of the term (the house was dirtier, not me). By the end, they were just doing everything they could to make it through another day; by the end of the term, that's how I am--what's due next is the only thing that I can focus on. The season finale always coincided with the start of my finals weeks, and it seemed poetic, almost, how the journeys, trials, and travails were ending at roughly the same time. I can't explain how Survivor has sometimes been my inspiration as I've gone through a particularly rough term. It's not like I was stranded out in the middle of nowhere, having to do the gross food challenges. But sometimes, in the middle of a particularly long assignment, I do feel like I'm stranded.
This season, Russell may well be one of the best villains to ever play the game. But I like his style. And this is one of the tribal councils that I will try and remember. No matter what the odds, no matter how bad it's looking for the home team, there's always a way. And sometimes the best part is finding it within myself to stand up and say, "I ain't finished playin' jes yet."
