From Lipscomb’s classrooms to Survivor’s shores: Sam Phalen’s story

Many childhood dreams are never realized. For a lot of us they are outgrown, replaced by something else as we get older and discover new things. Some childhood dreams are dismissed as unrealistic or immature. But when a childhood dream does come true, it is all the sweeter for the years of wishing for it. And when that dream comes with deeper roots and meaning, its realization is powerful, as well.

Sam Phalen, a 2022 sports media alumnus from Lipscomb, grew up with a dream of being on the CBS reality show Survivor. That dream has come true, as he is a contestant on the show’s soon-to-debut Season 47.

Phalen told Herd Media that Survivor was “important pillar” of his life.

“I grew up watching Survivor with my family, [starting] when I was really little,” Phalen said with a smile. Though the show has changed what nights it airs on over the years, the Phalen family’s dedication to the show hasn’t changed at all.

“It was always us sitting on the couch, or me sitting on the floor, cross legged, watching Survivor,” he said. “It just kind of became something that really bonded my family together. Even as I got older… I was always really able to lean back on Survivor to connect me to my immediate family.”

The show continues to connect Phalen with his family. His brother lives across the country from him, yet “even to this day, him and I call every week on Wednesday nights and recap the Survivor episode that we just watched,” Phalen said. “It’s definitely been just something that we’ve all shared.”

It’s no surprise that something with such a deep significance would turn into a childhood dream.

“I have always…had Survivor in my sights as a dream,” Phalen said, “something that I would love to do to test myself, [to] be the ultimate competition of mental and physical abilities and adaptability.”

Despite facing challenges on his road to Survivor, Phalen refused to let his dream die.

“I always wanted to apply, and I had first submitted an application when I was 18 or 19 years old,” he said. “It wasn’t a very good application, probably didn’t stand me much chance of getting on the show, but it was always something that I had wanted to do.”

He was right; he was not invited.

But while watching an episode of season 45, Phalen recalled seeing Jeff Probst, the show’s host, point at the camera and ask if “you think you have what it takes.” That simple question reignited the spark of Phalen’s childhood dream, and he decided to try again. Submitting another application, Phalen heard back in just a few days.

After that, “I found myself in Fiji… getting off the airplane, I was just hit in the face with, wow, I can’t believe I’m here. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

With Survivor such a part of Phalen’s life and family connections, he said it “makes it all the more surreal that my family’s going to get to watch me on TV.” But it’s not enough to dream about something like Survivor and think about your family watching you compete – Phalen had to prepare as well. And when you never know what the show might throw at you, your preparation methods have to be varied.

“I tried to get myself really comfortable being uncomfortable,” Phalen said. “I swam a lot more than I was normally accustomed to. I tried to do a lot of yoga, work on my balance, do things that would help me in challenges. I went out into the woods and tried to like practice making fire… I just tried to make sure that I was the best version of me possible.”

Alongside preparation, Survivor competitors also need to create a strategy, considering what could make them threatening to other players. In a game where alliances are constantly shifting and players often team up on the most threatening players, understanding your own threat level is an incredibly important part of your strategy.

“I really wanted to listen to other people and really try and control my own threat level,” Phalen said. He pegged his own threat level as “understanding that [he was] a big physical guy who [was] going to be a force in challenges,” and recognizing that “oftentimes in Survivor that [can] be threatening.”

Phalen said his thoughts going into the games were, “How can I disarm people by asking the right questions and by being very vulnerable with my emotions and just trying to connect with people on a human level? I think we see in the game that your ability to connect with humans is ultimately what drives success and so my goal going out there was to see [if] I have what it takes to be the social player that can protect myself despite having some threatening things about me.”

With a diverse childhood experience — playing sports, performing in musical theater and competing in the Scholastic Bowl — Phalen felt confident in his ability to relate to lots of different people.

“I think one of my superpowers… is my ability to connect with people from different walks of life, ” he said. “I think you can kind of throw me in front of anybody and I can talk just the same. I can listen, I can laugh and I can make somebody else laugh.”

With Survivor being both a physical game and a social game, Phalen hoped that his ability to translate that connection skill into the games would carry him far.

It wasn’t just his childhood experiences that helped Phalen cultivate flexibility and the ability to fit into different groups.

“I think part of my college experience at Lipscomb that has helped me in my professional life was being able to do a little bit of everything,” Phalen said. “One of the pieces of advice I got during my time at Lipscomb was to be well rounded — to be prepared for anything, to be prepared for whatever comes your way and have a diverse skill set.”

Having a diverse skill set helps not only in the professional world, but on the shores of Survivor as well.

“You never know the hand that Jeff is going to deal you,” Phalen said. “The game starts and… you have to be ready that it might not go exactly how you picture it being in your brain.

“I’m a big believer in the idea of you make your own luck,” he said. “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. And so if I can be prepared for anything, I can take advantage of any opportunity.” 

Not only has Phalen worked hard to make his own luck, he has truly realized his childhood dream.

“It was fulfilling for that little 6-year-old boy that sat on his living room floor and looked at his parents and said, ‘Someday I’m going to do that. Someday I’m going to go play Survivor.’ To have that dream realized and be standing there in front of Jeff and realize, ‘I’m here, I’m in Fiji. I did it’ — that was as fulfilling as anything could have been.”

Season 47 of Survivor premieres this Wednesday on CBS at 7 p.m. Central. The first episode will be two hours long, and subsequent episodes will air every Wednesday.

Photos courtesy of CBS/Robert Voets.