{"id":2352,"date":"2022-10-24T17:42:58","date_gmt":"2022-10-24T21:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.alumni.ncsu.edu\/?p=2352"},"modified":"2022-10-24T17:42:58","modified_gmt":"2022-10-24T21:42:58","slug":"finally-a-survivor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/2022\/finally-a-survivor\/","title":{"rendered":"Finally, a Survivor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lindsay Carmine \u201904 has been a diehard fan of Survivor<\/em> since the reality show premiered on CBS in 2000. As a film studies major at NC State, Carmine would cut out photos of contestants on the show to put on the walls of her apartment on Western Boulevard. She was still in school at NC State when she applied – unsuccessfully – to be a contestant during the show\u2019s second season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as life got busy after college with marriage, nursing school, kids and a career as a pediatric nurse, Carmine never wavered in her love for the show. So when her husband, also an NC State alum, suggested a couple of years ago that she should do something for herself, Carmine knew what she wanted to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI still want to play Survivor<\/em>,\u201d she thought. \u201cThat isn\u2019t a dream that goes away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And, this year, Carmine\u2019s dream came true. Nearly two decades after she first applied, Carmine was given the chance to play Survivor<\/em>. She was one of 18 contestants who flew to the islands of Fiji this year to test themselves at tasks ranging from starting fires to competing in physical challenges. Carmine was initially selected to be on the show last year, but was bumped when she tested positive for COVID 12 hours before she was scheduled to begin her Survivor<\/em> journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI felt for a year that I had missed my opportunity,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Carmine was given another chance, and she found that being on the show was everything she thought it would be during all those years of watching it on television. \u201cI\u2019ve never had more fun in my life,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For those not familiar with the show, Survivor<\/em> divides a group of contestants (of varying ages and backgrounds) into tribes, which then must construct their own rudimentary shelters, forage for food, and build fires for warmth and cooking. Tribe members, all strangers coming into the game, form friendships and alliances as they try to figure out who they can and can\u2019t trust. The tribes are pitted against each other in physical and mental challenges, with losing tribes forced to vote one of the contestants off the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carmine, 42, who lives with her husband and two children on 3.5 acres of woodlands on the outskirts of Philadelphia, PA, says she was not daunted by the prospects of living outside on a tropical beach. \u201cFor me it was fun,\u201d she says. \u201cI had been dreaming of living off the land since I was a little girl.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carmine was surprised, though, by how tough the physical challenges against the other tribes were. \u201cWhen you\u2019re training for the game, you can\u2019t factor in how tired you will be, how not eating will affect you, how the sun will affect you,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there was nothing better than the satisfaction of winning a team challenge. \u201cMy favorite moments,\u201d she says, \u201cwere hugging my tribe members after wins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most difficult moments for Carmine were the hours after her tribe lost a challenge, leading up to the vote that night that got her booted off the show nine days into the competition. \u201cFor nine days, I felt like I could really trust my tribe,\u201d she says. \u201cI wasn\u2019t fighting with anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carmine wishes she could have stayed on the show longer, but still says the experience was special. She wasn\u2019t able to \u201ccheck everything off my Survivor<\/em> bucket list,\u201d but she did leave with some nice mementos of her experience, including a \u201ctribe map\u201d with specks of Fijian sand on it that she had framed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was also able to teach her 11-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter the value of not giving up on the things that you want in life. \u201cIf you want something bad enough,\u201d she says, \u201cdreams can come true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All photography by Robert Voets\/CBS.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n

Lindsay Carmine \u201904 has been a diehard fan of Survivor<\/em> since the reality show premiered on CBS in 2000. As a film studies major at NC State, Carmine would cut out photos of contestants on the show to put on the walls of her apartment on Western Boulevard. She was still in school at NC State when she applied - unsuccessfully - to be a contestant during the show\u2019s second season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as life got busy after college with marriage, nursing school, kids and a career as a pediatric nurse, Carmine never wavered in her love for the show. So when her husband, also an NC State alum, suggested a couple of years ago that she should do something for herself, Carmine knew what she wanted to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI still want to play Survivor<\/em>,\u201d she thought. \u201cThat isn\u2019t a dream that goes away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And, this year, Carmine\u2019s dream came true. Nearly two decades after she first applied, Carmine was given the chance to play Survivor<\/em>. She was one of 18 contestants who flew to the islands of Fiji this year to test themselves at tasks ranging from starting fires to competing in physical challenges. Carmine was initially selected to be on the show last year, but was bumped when she tested positive for COVID 12 hours before she was scheduled to begin her Survivor<\/em> journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI felt for a year that I had missed my opportunity,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Carmine was given another chance, and she found that being on the show was everything she thought it would be during all those years of watching it on television. \u201cI\u2019ve never had more fun in my life,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For those not familiar with the show, Survivor<\/em> divides a group of contestants (of varying ages and backgrounds) into tribes, which then must construct their own rudimentary shelters, forage for food, and build fires for warmth and cooking. Tribe members, all strangers coming into the game, form friendships and alliances as they try to figure out who they can and can\u2019t trust. The tribes are pitted against each other in physical and mental challenges, with losing tribes forced to vote one of the contestants off the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carmine, 42, who lives with her husband and two children on 3.5 acres of woodlands on the outskirts of Philadelphia, PA, says she was not daunted by the prospects of living outside on a tropical beach. \u201cFor me it was fun,\u201d she says. \u201cI had been dreaming of living off the land since I was a little girl.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carmine was surprised, though, by how tough the physical challenges against the other tribes were. \u201cWhen you\u2019re training for the game, you can\u2019t factor in how tired you will be, how not eating will affect you, how the sun will affect you,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there was nothing better than the satisfaction of winning a team challenge. \u201cMy favorite moments,\u201d she says, \u201cwere hugging my tribe members after wins.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most difficult moments for Carmine were the hours after her tribe lost a challenge, leading up to the vote that night that got her booted off the show nine days into the competition. \u201cFor nine days, I felt like I could really trust my tribe,\u201d she says. \u201cI wasn\u2019t fighting with anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Carmine wishes she could have stayed on the show longer, but still says the experience was special. She wasn\u2019t able to \u201ccheck everything off my Survivor<\/em> bucket list,\u201d but she did leave with some nice mementos of her experience, including a \u201ctribe map\u201d with specks of Fijian sand on it that she had framed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was also able to teach her 11-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter the value of not giving up on the things that you want in life. \u201cIf you want something bad enough,\u201d she says, \u201cdreams can come true.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All photography by Robert Voets\/CBS.<\/em><\/p>\n"},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It took nearly two decades, but Lindsay Carmine \u201904 finally managed to land a spot on CBS\u2019 long-running reality show.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":2372,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"views\/single-immersive.blade.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"source":"","ncst_custom_author":"","ncst_show_custom_author":false,"ncst_dynamicHeaderBlockName":"ncst\/side-by-side-header","ncst_dynamicHeaderData":"{\"showAuthor\":true,\"showDate\":true,\"backgroundColor\":\"red_400\",\"focalPoint\":{\"x\":\"0.50\",\"y\":\"0.18\"},\"titleColor\":\"red_400\",\"showFeaturedVideo\":false,\"subtitle\":\"It took nearly two decades, but Lindsay Carmine \u201904 finally managed to land a spot on CBS\u2019 long-running reality show.\",\"displayCategoryID\":6,\"caption\":\"\",\"image\":\"{\\\"alt\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"id\\\":2361,\\\"caption\\\":\\\"\\\",\\\"url\\\":\\\"https:\/\/magazine.alumni.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/118723_0873bcEDIT-683x1024.jpg\\\"}\"}","ncst_content_audit_freq":"","ncst_content_audit_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,9],"tags":[217,437,706,1119],"_ncst_magazine_issue":[],"class_list":["post-2352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-class-act","category-stories","tag-cbs","tag-fiji","tag-lindsay-carmine","tag-survivor"],"displayCategory":{"term_id":6,"name":"Campus Lens","slug":"campus-lens","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":6,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2352"},{"taxonomy":"_ncst_magazine_issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.ncsu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/_ncst_magazine_issue?post=2352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}