Survivor contestant talks tactics to Bermuda pupils
A public speaker and contestant of the competitive reality television show Survivor is visiting the island to coach young people on how to survive the university experience.
Tim Spicer, 31, will tour several of Bermuda’s high schools to speak to “student leaders” about how to endure difficulty during university while becoming their best selves.
He will also host a viewing party tonight when the first episode of the Survivor season in which he appears will be aired.
Mr Spicer said: “It was a real honour to be involved. I can’t say much, but I enjoyed myself.”
The public speaker and life coach from Atlanta, Georgia, is visiting the island on behalf of the college planning group PeerForward.
He said that he became a public speaker after going to a similar conference by the group College Summit during high school.
Mr Spicer said it was that, as well as subsequent workshops through the programme, that inspired him to help others create educational plans.
He said: “That was my gateway into taking post-secondary education seriously.
“I paired it with my leadership skills, my strengths, and used that to encourage students to take college seriously in order to take that next step in their lives seriously.”
Mr Spicer, who’s been a youth coach for ten years, said he was invited to Bermuda after building a relationship with the youth outreach programme Mirrors.
He saw Bermuda as an opportunity to help PeerForward expand internationally.
Mr Spicer added that the island’s size and links to other countries put its high school graduates in a unique position when looking for further education.
He explained: “The coolest part of Bermuda is the fact that the students are applying to school in the UK, Canada and the US, so that put on another layer and makes us ask, ‘How do we coach students to take that leap?’.
“It’s a big jump from going to college off-island versus a US student who might want to go to college in a different state.
“It’s a totally different kind of transition for Bermudians.”
His newest seminar, Surviving College, will focus on how to handle difficulties while in university, as well as its lack of acknowledgement on social media and the effect of that on students’ mindsets.
Mr Spicer added that the seminar would look at how to capitalise from setbacks so that “you’re continually morphing into who it is or what it is that you want to be on this very delicate journey through college”.
He hoped to close the seminar by offering youngsters an opportunity to join the Peer Leader in College programme, where they could also learn to become coaches.
Mr Spicer said that youngsters would need to be keen on developing skills to increase their levels of influence, as well as a willingness to be vulnerable and help others.
His visit was expected to take in schools including the Bermuda Institute and CedarBridge Academy.
The Surviving College seminar was scheduled take place tomorrow at 7pm, although may become a podcast as the Bermuda College worked to restore its IT network after a systems crash.
A public speaker and university coach said he was excited to see himself on the small screen as a Survivor contestant.
Tim Spicer will host a watch party tonight to see the first episode of the reality show’s 46th season where he is a contestant.
Survivor puts contestants in an isolated area where they must find food, water and shelter for themselves while also taking part in athletic competitions, team challenges and puzzles.
Mr Spicer said that he joined out of an “existential life crisis, where I felt like I needed to pursue something bigger than myself”.
He added: “When my wife had me watching Survivor I was excited. I thought ‘this looks fun, it looks like a work trip for a million dollars’.”
Mr Spicer said that he was drawn to the strategy and challenge of the show, as well as the need to provide for himself.
He said he believed his people skills and affinity with swimming helped him in the competition.
Mr Spicer added that getting through Survivor and adjusting to college relied on the same level of adaptability.
He explained: “I think the parallel between surviving college and actually playing Survivor is that you have to be a guru of reading people, whether that be at the financial aid office, your professor or your job.
“How do you self-advocate for what you want, to leverage your voice to achieve what’s destined for you?”
Mr Spicer added: “In your postsecondary you might go without certain things, you might not have everything together.
“In Survivor you had to use what you had to figure things out. I think a lot of the times in college, especially our first-year students, they’re trying to use what they’ve got to get to the next step.
“College is also all about survival. Not everybody graduates, so it’s all about pushing yourself to figure out who you really are and achieve that goal.”
Survivor will air tonight at 9pm. Mr Spicer’s watch party will take place at Front Yard on Front Street from 8.30pm.
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