My final interview from the Vokai tribe could have spent our time standing on my jungle office table. After all, that’s the natural habitat of teacher Tommy Sheehan, who prides himself on making his classroom fun and exciting for his 23 fourth-grade students. It’s a technique from Ron Clark, a renowned teacher and fellow Survivor alum who showed how much his pedagogy can apply to the game. Now it’s Tommy’s turn at the lectern (or perhaps on top of it), as he tells me about his strategy before hitting the beach, and how he’s going to “get it done” for his family back home.

Read on for my chat with Tommy, and make sure to check in with Parade.com every day for interviews with this season’s contestants and other on-set tidbits. Survivor: Island of the Idols premieres on September 25 with a special 90-minute premiere on CBS.

Tell me about yourself.

I live in Long Island and I’m 26 years old. I’m a fourth-grade teacher. I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. Once I graduated from college, I started teaching. Right before coming out here, I just finished my administration program so I can be a principal or superintendent. I’m 26 years old, but I’m probably just as mature as the nine-year-olds I teach. I couldn’t pull myself away. But eventually, I want to move up.

You happen to be following on the heels of another Survivor teacher in Ron Clark.

Ron Clark has always been an inspiration to me. All through college, I read his book and watched his movie, and we currently follow his rules. I have his book on my desk. When the Edge of Extinction cast was released, I was at work and got a missed call from my girlfriend. She told me he was on and I was like, “Holy [expletive]!” But I have that same philosophy. His three things are to make it fun and exciting, high expectations, and have relationships. That’s what I strive to do. I want all 23 of those kids to feel like they’re the most loved in the world. Because you don’t know what’s going on at home. Every day I go in and not only do I enjoy it, but I embrace the opportunity to change 23 lives.

What does making things fun and exciting entail?

My Survivor casting video is me standing on desks, walking back and forth. My philosophy is that anyone can teach the exact same math lesson; it’s how you deliver it. Me standing on a desk is going to grab these kids’ attention. I’m jumping over them and their eyes are all over the place. I know all the raps in Ron Clark’s book. I had a kid who didn’t talk and nothing could get through. Then I started rapping, and she’s started making up her own and has gone up to the 96th percentile. You have to be the most lively human being, even if you’re sick or have the worst day. You put on a show. That’s what’s going to work well here.

Just like your lessons, I feel like making a pitch in Survivor is all about delivery and appealing to someone’s attention.

Exactly. The way I look at a student is, “What’s their interest? What do they like, and how am I going to deliver it so they want to listen?” Some people like being told what to do. Some people want plans that sound like it’s coming from them. It’s about the way you talk and the way you make people feel. People think so much about, “Who are my enemies?” instead of, “Who can I make love me?” People are dying to trust someone just a little bit. They have nobody. You can be that little bit of comfort and make people open up to you.

What interested you in Survivor?

I’ve watched this show my entire life. I’ll never forget it used to be on Thursday nights. I had to go to bed at 8:00 every night. Thursday was the exception because of Survivor. My whole family would be home and we’d be glued to the television. Not only was it my favorite show, but it got me to stay up an hour later. Two hours on finale night! I was breaking the rules watching it. And that’s how you play in the game. When I was a kid, I felt like I was in it.

I thought there was no way someone like an average life like me would get on the show. My mom was the biggest superfan and said, “You’ve got to go for it.” Then my girlfriend started watching with the family and said, “You’d be so amazing at this game. Apply!” I’m like, “You know I’m gone for 40-something days?” And she’s like, “Exactly!” (Laughs.) At work, my board president came up to me and said, “You watch that show Survivor? You’d be really good.” So then I said, “[expletive] it” and put a tape together. People were videoing me doing my stuff in class anyway. So I just used that footage of me rapping, flipping off kids’ desks, and dressed head to toe in colonial gear and talked over it. An hour later, I heard back.

What do you think people are going to perceive you as?

I’m a 26-year-old. I played college basketball. I wear tank tops on the season and all through casting. I’m doing cannonballs in the pool. These people are definitely saying, “This guy’s a meathead. A dumb toolbag.” That’s great. Think that. I’m not friends with the jocks in real life. My best friends are a lawyer from UVA, a pharmacist from Rhode Island, and someone who works in television. Once you get to know me, it’s like, “Holy crap! This guy is so different from what I perceive.” But let them think I’m dumb. I’ll play into it. In teaching, I put on an act every day. Now it’s my turn to act here. There are no rules; you don’t have to feel bad pretending.

Is there anything you won’t do in the game, knowing your 23 students are watching?

I thought a lot about that during casting. I wasn’t going to come out here if I couldn’t lie, cheat, or steal. I remember looking at my kids and thinking, “They’d be madder if I didn’t lie, cheat or steal!” It’s a way to show them there are different avenues and ways to look at life. Growing up, my dad always told me with every sport I played, “You are the nicest guy off the court. When you step on that line and you’re on the court, give ’em hell. Once the buzzer rings and the game’s over, you go back.” That’s how I’m going to play. Once I step on that sand, I’m going to give them hell, then apologize after.

What do you desire in an alliance partner?

Looking at this cast, I start connecting with the mom and dad out here. I’ve also been noticing an Asian guy who people don’t really sit with at meals. I’m seeing people from my life in everyone, and I start feeling for them. I know I get so emotionally attached to people. I’ll die for my friends. But my gut is telling me these three people are awesome. So I’m going to go for them. Once my gut gets the slightest feeling, I’m cutting them. I have to tell myself, “No matter how close you get to somebody. No matter how open you are with them, if they come to you crying, there’s a time and a place to play this game. You can still be best friends the day after.” I’ll owe them a beer, and that’s that.

Give me a Survivor winner and non-winner you want to play like.

The non-winner is David Wright. I love that guy to the fullest extent. He had a target on his back because he covered his ears while people chopped coconuts, and he just manned up. What he did for himself is amazing, and he beat all of these people who were bigger and stronger. When there was a target on him, he was figuring out his next move. I hope I’m not targeted as much as him in the beginning. But people don’t give him enough credit for the way he could work a room.

In terms of a winner, I would say Wendell. I know he barely won, and that season he and Dom just ran through it. But even little things like bringing the seashell to Sebastian, and Dom hit on that in a couple of podcasts, was what won the game. People don’t realize that all the little things you do will help you win the game. I’m going to play and not worry about being that goat that goes to the end. I’m going to blindside, use idols, and do everything. What’s in your control are those little things. Wendell doesn’t get enough credit for making people feel better. Dom played a way better strategic game, but Wendall made people feel better.

On that note, which is more important to your game: Strategy or social?

Social. Everything comes from there. You can win immunities, play idols, and backstab. But if you can’t get someone on your side, then you’re Russell Hantz. He plays amazing games, and I give him more credit than people do. But he made people feel like [expletive]. There are ways you can blindside someone and make them look foolish without making them hate you for it. He was rubbing it in their faces. If you don’t have an alliance, then you can’t do anything. You need to make people feel they can trust you, or they’re not going to.

Your dad has his own “survivor” story. Can you elaborate on that?

My dad is a cat with nine lives. He’s Superman. 6’6, 260, powerlifter. Nothing hurts him. I’ve never seen him cry or bleed. I remember I was studying for a sixth-grade social studies test with my mom. We wanted to go outside and play in the snow. My dad was pulling my sister on a sled, and a car out of nowhere plowed straight into him. My dad went flying so freaking high. I remember blacking out and just running up to him with my sister and mom. We couldn’t get him to the hospital because of all the snow, so they put him in the elementary school. I remember him being like, “I’m good. Don’t worry about me.” He came back two days later, walking up the stairs in a neck brace.

It’s little things like that where I think, “I could have lost my dad.” He used to coach college basketball and was in Florida recruiting. He flew that night and was driving home when a tree fell and landed on him. He got knocked out at 4:00 in the morning. My mom called, and he answered, coming to at that moment. He called an ambulance and they found him. The tree was so big they had to delay school openings because they had to cut it out and move it. The next day, he was at my basketball game watching it. That’s what he builds. My mom, too, had a brain tumor. They cut her open; she has a big scar on her head. She’s even tougher. She was an undercover detective. She worked 9/11 and they found someone in the Twin Tower rubble. She retired from that and became a nurse to help people. Now she wants to become a pharmacist. She’s all about, “What’s next?”

Sounds like you come from a tenacious family.

The Sheehan motto is “Get it done.” My parents are like, “I hate excuses. A tree fell on me, I got hit by a car. The next day, I’m at work. These days, people give so many excuses.” Especially in Survivor, when people say, “If I didn’t get swapped…” There are too many ifs. You get the hand you’re dealt, and deal with it. That’s what they instilled in me.

When you’re at your lowest low, what’s one memory you’ll pull from to boost your spirits?

There are so many memories, and it all comes from my parents. All those moments. They were working two or three jobs. All these bad things happened, but they were always like, “Can we get Tommy to school?” They kept thinking of me. They’re so excited I’m out here. I’m going to keep going for them.

Have you mentally prepared yourself for the weather you’ll encounter?

I looked at the forecast coming out here and saw it was a 100% chance of rain every night. My girlfriend looked at me and said, “I’m sorry.” But I’m praying for rain. I’m so mentally tough. I know other people are going to be like, “[expletive] this.” And once they bring their shield down, you’ll hit them.

If you could bring one celebrity or fictional character out as your loved one, who would you pick?

Buzz Lightyear, without a doubt. I’m such a Disney fan. He’d be full-sized so I could wrap my arms around him. That was the first toy I ever got, and I still have it in its box on my bed frame. I have Peter Pan syndrome; I don’t want to grow up, I have red hair, and probably look good in green tights. I don’t view people above me or beneath me. If Buzz Lightyear came out, it brings me back to how amazing my childhood was. It would remind me of home.

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