Day 14: Survivor That Reminds You of Yourself
Survivor 39-Day Challenge
I was asked the same question years ago and I’ve said this over and over: *ehem* besides the good puzzle-solving skills *ehem*, Sophie Clarke reminds me of myself when she played in South Pacific. Plus the growth she’s shown in Winners at War, I can say, parallels mine.
Sophie is two months older than I am, but basically we’re the same age. That’s why I could and still can relate to her and her personality because well, we’re similar in a lot of ways (or at least I’d like to believe so).
Side note: One of the things that would separate me from Sophie — I would have laughed so hard at that Jack and Jill movie.
Whenever she goes on to be a guest on Rob Has a Podcast for example, her thought process truly mirrors my process, albeit, I gotta say, she’s more articulate. That’s one thing I really need to improve upon. She’s a bit neurotic, as evidenced by the way she speaks which, although articulate, really has the tendency to be fast; she eats her words. I am similarly neurotic in my way of communicating, especially speaking, in a sense that I am visibly anxious on one-on-one interviews. Or heck, even in just a casual conversation. However, we both need to get our message across and we do that by hook or by crook.
Sophie was one of the 18 castaways on South Pacific which she ultimately won. She was tagged as the medical student fresh out of college. At the time, I was finishing my engineering studies and preparing for the licensure examination. That time as well, she’s shown the naivete and youth of an early 20-something. I thought her personality was abrasive at times, although nonchalantly done, too unaware that she was the way she was. Same with her passive-aggressiveness, which I must say was truly entertaining because of the reaction of the people around her. I didn’t like Sophie back then, until I realized I myself was unaware of my own abrasive attitude.
Being unaware of her passive-aggressive personality coupled with her introversion unraveled her deep-seeded insecurities once she reached the final tribal council in Season 23. At the time, I wasn’t a fan of her, but when she started to cry and promised to improve herself for the better, I felt her in a way I couldn’t explain. Maybe watching the sequence of events at that finale ignited something in my subconscious that I was actually watching a version of myself in a parallel universe. I just didn’t know it then.
I began to realize my passive-aggressiveness when I fell into a long depression. I was in my mid-twenties, I hit the so-called rock bottom, and everything in my life just abruptly failed, fell apart, and I couldn’t seem to go on. Such realization forced me to make changes in my approach in life, to basically grow, be more calm and collected. I am still a work in progress, but I can say I’ve improved a lot entering my 30s.
Seeing Sophie play for a second time in Winners at War made me happy. I’d love to see my parallel universe self play again and see if she can make it all the way again and win. I didn’t place my bet on Sophie at the start of the season, but was so ecstatic to make some changes once the season played out early on. She was one of my contenders up until her elimination; the other was Tony.
Watching Sophie on Winners at War was like watching myself and the growth I’ve made. It’s like the universe telling me this is how you’ve grown over the years, at the characterization of Sophie. There are a lot of things to improve upon still, like being a ‘catastrophizer’ for example, which Sophie also tends to be at times (see her RHAP deep dive). Her trying to have more fun and to enjoy the game more than being serious about it, it parallels my mantra when I got out of my depression period — just have fun and enjoy life.
Runner-up: Spencer Bledsoe, Co-Runner-up, Survivor: Cambodia – Second Chance & Adam Klein, Winner, Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X (He, however, is more a Survivor that reminds other people of me.)
