

Good Evening Everyone.

My name is Gregory Friedberg and I am a third-year student from Solon, Ohio studying neuroscience and a self-proclaimed SURVIVOR super-fan. I am also the Founder, President, and Host of Survivor: Time & Change at The Ohio State University, and with that being said, I wanted to be the one to make the first official blog post on behalf of the organization that I have poured my heart and soul into over the past seven months.

First, I wanted to take the time to tell the story of how we came to be. This past summer, I became an avid Reddit user, which led me to becoming a regular on the SURVIVOR Subreddit. As I was perusing the depths of the SURVIVOR Reddit community one night, I stumbled upon a post about Survivor: Maryland, a major project spearheaded by a former Maryland student by the name of Austin Trupp. Survivor: Maryland is essentially a fan-made version of SURVIVOR that has been modified to be played over the span of a semester on a college campus. At the tail end of each season, Austin would collate the entire competition into a YouTube series that would tell the story of the season. If you haven’t taken the time to check out the work that Austin was able to achieve in his time at Maryland, I strongly recommend that you check it out ASAP (https://www.youtube.com/user/austintrupp), as it is truly a masterpiece in the realm of the SURVIVOR fan-made community.

Austin’s project at the University of Maryland greatly peaked my interest in initiating a similar project here at Ohio State, and I instantly contacted him to find out more. The rest is history. Austin and I have been working together ever since to help make this happen here in Columbus, and I am forever grateful for all the advice and support he has so graciously provided for us. I was also fortunate enough to have found five other students here at Ohio State that shared my same passion for this incredible concept and now make up our executive board for the organization: Sam Lechner (Vice President), Janie Walborn (Treasurer), Aaron Shifrin (Media Director), Sydney Donohue (Marketing Director), and Jill Loveless (Programming Director). In addition, we have added on an auxiliary production crew composed of six additional students who also share our vision of making this dream into a reality. All of us have been working tirelessly for the last seven months to make this competition the most authentic and immersive experience possible for all of our contestants, and cannot wait to get started.

The name Survivor: Time & Change is derived from the song “Carmen Ohio”, which is our Alma Mater. This is a marquee example of how our game will incorporate not only components of the social experiment that is actual SURVIVOR, but will also integrate components of Ohio State traditions and history into its gameplay as well. Students will be tasked with intertwining their everyday college lives with this game, as each week they will meet for a series of challenges and tribal council ceremonies, all while carrying the weight of a traditional college schedule outside of the game. It will be the ultimate test of each contestant’s social acumen and time management skills. They will be forced to form genuine and trusting relationships with those around them in order to prevail, or else face elimination from the game, and in the process, will forever become a part of the college SURVIVOR movement here at Ohio State and around the country.

Survivor: Time & Change is an official student organization under the umbrella of Student Life here at The Ohio State University. Such a status has enabled us the ability to utilize the countless resources that The Ohio State University provides for its students and organizations. I would like to take a moment to cordially thank all university personnel who have taken part in helping us to get to this point, as none of this would be possible without your efforts and cooperation with us. With that being said, with this status as an official student organization, we were tasked with establishing organizational goals. Initially, we struggled with coming up with the words to describe exactly what our organization was setting out to achieve, but after some serious thought, this is what we came up with: we aim to challenge students to test themselves both physically and mentally in a uniquely innovative and competitive environment, while at the same time developing and maintaining a community of fellow students with similar interests and passions. It is our hope that when all is said and done at the end of our first season, we will have accomplished this goal of creating a new community of individuals, bound together by a passion and internal desire to challenge themselves and to live outside their comfort zone.

The wait is almost over. Survivor: Time & Change Season One will kickoff this upcoming Monday, January 16th. The culmination of all of the work we have put into this amazing concept all comes to life in just four short days, and trying to put my excitement into words would not do it any justice. We have been blessed with having assembled a tremendous cast for our first season composed of sixteen Ohio State students, all of whom are more than ready to embark on what will hopefully one of the most unique, memorable and rewarding experiences of their entire college career. Who will Outwit, Outplay and Outlast all the rest and become Ohio State’s first ever Sole Survivor? Well, in the words of the buckeye faithful, only “Time & Change will surely show”.

Follow our journey. Join the movement. Go Bucks.

The Tribe Has Spoken.

Gregory Friedberg – Founder, President, and Host of Survivor: Time & Change