EMU's Reichenbach on Upcoming Season of "Survivor"

After spending years avidly watching “Survivor”, Eastern Michigan University junior Erik Reichenbach finally got his own shot at surviving the elements, both mental and physical, on the reality show.

“I’ve been a fan of the show for a long time, since I was a little kid,” Reichenbach said. “I followed the first season. I was just interested in it, the psychology and competition of it. Then I turned 21 and remembered that was the age when you can do this.”

Following his own hunch to put together a video, Reichenbach impressed the “Survivor” casters. “They called me back and said you were hilarious,” Reichenbach added. “We want to see another. The second one (video) was well-put together. That was how I got on.”

The video used to be on You-Tube, but has since been pulled because CBS owns the rights to it. Reichenbach showed what type of person he is in the video, from working at a local ice cream parlor to running and being outdoors. An Ypsilanti landmark, the infamous water tower, even made the video cut.

The 16th season of the successful “Survivor” franchise is set to begin Thursday, Feb. 7 at 8 p.m. Micronesia was the exotic locale for this installment, pitting fans of the show against the people they are used to watching. “Fans vs. Favorites” is the theme of this survivor, as 10 newcomers are competing against 10 former castaways. Reichenbach is referred to as the “Ice Cream Scooper from Hell” on the show, an homage to his summer job at an ice cream parlor in Hell, Mich.

Before heading to Micronesia, an area containing hundreds of small islands in the Pacific Ocean, Reichenbach wanted to sharpen his skills. “I tried to make fire a couple of times with just regular everyday things. Every time I tried to make fire, all I could make was smoke,” Reichenbach said. “I basically just worked out the same with running, (because) running keeps you in great shape.”

More importantly, Reichenbach prepared himself for the most daunting task of “Survivor”: the mental aspect. “I tried to talk to the people that I normally don’t talk to, because it’s more of a social game than anything. Everyone thinks its some kind of competition and a physical thing. It’s totally a social game,” Reichenbach explained.

Even though he put some thought into what he could do while he was over there, Reichenbach ultimately went with an open mind. “Before I went, my mind was just open, open for whatever happened. I’m not an aggressive person, I’m not going to be your alpha male, but I know there’s going to be other alpha males to take that place,” the junior from Pinckney, Mich., said. “So before the show, I was more prepared to just look at my options, rather than ‘this is what I need to do right away.’”

Despite having an open mind and having watched numerous episodes in the past, the social aspect of the game (lying, cheating, stealing) was something that caught Reichenbach off-guard. “The whole aspect is different for me. In my everyday life, I don’t lie to people; I don’t cheat people; I don’t steal from people. I’m not a thief; I’m an ice cream man. Most of the time, I’m a student, an art student. And I never really come in contact with that kind of moral dilemma in my life.”

Reichenbach might have been able to use that to his advantage, as the host of Survivor, Jeff Probst, thought that Reichenbach was underestimated. “I think the initial take on Erik was, he's a little silly. He runs everywhere. When we were meeting with the Survivors right before the game started, kinda just to see how things were going, everybody commented about the kid in the green shorts who runs everywhere. I think that was the take going in. To Erik's credit, he is much sharper than I think people give him credit for, initially. He's much more of an athlete than I think anybody knew. You look at him and he's thin and obviously in shape but he's strong. He has a determination to do what it takes and that can get you a long way in Survivor. Just that willingness to dig deep and go for it, not think about it, can go a long way,” Probst said in a teleconference previewing the show.

Wearing something to stand out was definitely in Reichenbach’s mind when packing for the show. “I was pretty sure I wanted to wear something bright and wear some Eastern colors as well, just to say ‘hey, I don’t want to lie about who I am.’ I want to be the nice guy, the familiar face,” Reichenbach said. And about those short shorts… “I wore short shorts on purpose, because I am a runner. I’ve been getting a lot of gunk for that, but short shorts are coming back,” Reichenbach said.

Before heading off to the other side of the globe, Reichenbach had to come up with a reason for being away. “I had to make up that I was going on an internship for everything, and luckily, people were willing to believe that. You can’t tell anyone where you’re going or what you’re doing,” Reichenbach explained. “And then once you’re gone, you can’t contact any of your family or friends. That was pretty tough because you’re missing a lot of your life.”

Like holidays. Reichenbach left the comfort of his Ypsilanti apartment for the wilds of Mircronesia right before Halloween. He didn’t return until mid-December, missing Thanksgiving with his family and his own birthday. Upon his return, he told his family and roommates where he had really been. Besides that, he has let everyone else find out on their own.

Getting back into the swing of things has proved hard, after basically disappearing for a few months. “It’s interesting, because you’re out of the loop. A lot has changed and I’m trying to integrate back in with my friends and family and everything. My family has been really good about it. With friends, I’m trying to reconnect with everybody, and at the same time, I have all these new friends that are like ‘you’re a celebrity’. It’s just strange and out of the norm for me,” Reichenbach said.

As for who wins, Reichenbach can’t say. When asked the most popular question, Reichenbach just tells everyone the same thing. “It was a tough experience, and you’re gonna have to watch the show to find out.” Reichenbach plans on watching the show with his family at first, before watching it with other people. “I want to see their (family) reaction to it. I’m probably gonna go to a couple different places. I won’t stay in one place to watch any one show.” What everyone will see is one lucky kid living out a dream on national television.

Erik Reichenbach is a junior cross country and track athlete at Eastern Michigan University. He has two letters in track while competing for the Eagles. He is pursuing a degree in art and graphic design.

Eastern Michigan Athletics

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