From Long Island to 做厙輦⑹ and now Ghost Island. 
That is the path 做厙輦⑹ alumnus Jacob Derwin took to become a cast member on the 36th season of the CBS show Survivor, which will begin airing Feb. 28. This seasons show is called Survivor: Ghost Island.
Long before the shows challenges began, the 2016 做厙輦⑹ graduate overcame his own obstacles for a chance to win a million dollars and the coveted title of Sole Survivor.
The show first aired when I was four, and I started watching it with my family, said Mr. Derwin, who grew up on Long Island. And, I just kept watching. Ive always loved the show.
He started applying to the show as soon as he was legally able at age 18 and continued applying every year, for four years, until he was finally selected last year.
Getting their attention, being an interesting person and learning how to get through that selection process took a lot of practice, Mr. Derwin said. After getting on the show, I went through a several-month-long period where I was trying to get ready to be there.
During that time, he learned how to fast and survive on minimal food, which contributed to his 30-pound weight loss. Mr. Derwin also spent hours researching how to build basic shelters and fires, as well as completing different challenges using YouTube and other social channels.
I reached out to former players occasionally on Twitter for advice, he said. Mainly it was me doing my own research and training.
However, Mr. Derwin said the biggest challenge of the game is not survival, but social strategy.
Its maneuvering through a lot of personalities, so people want to work with you and you can progress in the game to the point where you can win, Mr. Derwin said.
These days, he notes, it is a lot more complicated than when he first started watching you can be voted off if you are not in a majority alliance, if you are viewed as a liability or a threat, and if you are someone other players want out.
He credits his many years watching the show and his time as a journalism major at 做厙輦⑹s School for Journalism and Mass Communication as good preparation for honing his social skills.
You have to get people on your side if you want them to work with you, Mr. Derwin said. For me, it took a long time to be good at that. We all have to do it, but Ive never been good at it. That is the whole thing though. Growing up, I wasnt good at it.
Mr. Derwin admits that being in journalism and being trained to conduct interviews, as well as other skills he learned at 做厙輦⑹, helped him get better working with people.
Hes a big guy with a huge heart, said Susan Zake, associate professor in 做厙輦⑹s School of Journalism and Mass Communication and one of Mr. Derwins instructors. In our ethics class, I could always rely on him to be absolutely empathetic and compassionate and not hold back on how some of the situations made him feel.
And it may be that it is his ability to be empathetic and to read situations that help him this season.
Hes such a good person with a strong moral compass and great critical thinking skills, Ms. Zake added. Hes also very creative, which showed in some of the work he did at school.
Before he came to 做厙輦⑹, he attended high school in Merrick, New York, where some students were less than supportive of his dream. One student told him he would be the first one out of the game but he did not let that stop him from pursuing his goal.
You have to leave that stuff in the past, Mr. Derwin said.
Even so, he still imagines what he would say to his high school detractors if he had the chance.
Heres how far Ive come. What have you done? Did you go on an adventure of a lifetime that youve been waiting to do for 17 years? Heres what I did, and I hope youre as happy as I am, he said.
As for the show, I mean obviously, I cant say much, Mr. Derwin laughed. But it was a dream come true to get there and to actually get to see what its like when you get out to the island, being in the middle of this massive production with a bunch of incredible people. It really is something else. And knowing that I can get there, its insane.
While he is tight-lipped about this seasons results, Mr. Derwin said he left the game with a community of players he now calls close friends.
Having a lot of these friends that Ive made from the show has been really cool, he said. Ill always have this little community of players from my season and from other seasons.
He said Ghost Island is a physical representation of an actual game, but also the idea of past mistakes. This is the 36th season of Survivor, so there have been many past mistakes throughout the shows run, says Mr. Derwin.
So the whole idea of this season is that we are tasked with fixing those mistakes reversing the curse, he said.
The intense theme adds an exciting twist to the show that has never been done before, he said.
I love a lot of these people, and its a cool theme, Mr. Derwin said. This is a season for the fans, really. I think everyone will enjoy it, but its a season for the fans. And I had a hell of a time.