Board Thread:Character submissions/@comment-31532800-20180215052417/@comment-33641024-20191103175415

Name (Age): Kaela Nguyen-Kennedy (25)

Occupation: Recent MBA Graduate

Current Residence: Wollongong, NSW

Bio: Kaela is the ultimate example of the Australian melting pot. Her mother is a refugee from Vietnam while her father has roots in Australia going back to the days where convicts were shipped there.They moved to Wollongong from Sydney after Kaela's mother fell pregnant with her unexpectedly and both of their families disowned them. But even with the odds stacked against them, Kaela's parents built a new life for themselves and their children (Kaela and two younger siblings) and she grew up as a typical Wollongong beach kid, full of sunshine, sand and surf, and was popular growing up among her peers. But Kaela always had an eye for business and a keen intellect, even from a young age when she opened her first lemonade stand in the neighborhood, and it was only natural that she got into business school and received an undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Wollongong, eventually moving to Sydney to get a postgraduate MBA. Upon graduation, she moved back to Wollongong to figure out her next decision when she received the shock of her life: her maternal grandfather she never knew about had died and her mother inherited the family restaurant in Cabramatta. The decision was made that Kaela's mother to move back to Sydney to reunite with her family and run the restaurant, while her father stayed with the two younger children in Wollongong. But she also requested that Kaela come with her in order to help the restaurant grow. Kaela decided instead to have "one last adventure before starting real life" and put off the decision about whether to go to Cabramatta with her mother, stay in Wollongong with her family or whether to go her own way by applying to SURVIVOR. For Kaela, SURVIVOR would be a major turning point for her that will help her move on to the next chapter in her life, as well as a game for $500,000.

Kaela intends to play the game and play it hard, but doesn't want to be seen as a threat because as she says "Australian Survivor is different. It's a marathon, not a sprint." She'll disguise her intellect using "Wollongong beach ditziness" and try and form close social bonds with as many people as possible. The reason why she wants to do that is to make her fellow competitors feel like they have common cause in the game when in reality she only wants to advance her own interests. But she's also willing to make big moves and take out strong players when necessary and is keenly aware of the fact that perception is reality. Although she is willing to be ruthless, she would not do anything to shame her family like a showmance - she is strictly focused on the game and would not be willing to compromise $500,000 for any man. She has always been confident in herself and hopes that this confidence will carry her to victory in SURVIVOR.