User blog comment:Slag09/Survivor: Phoenix Islands Character Submissions/@comment-26485526-20190719045052

Name (Age): Vijay Chandhok (31)

Current Residence: Warwick, RI

Occupation: Public Defender

Claim to Fame: Being the first, and so far only, person from my family to not only attend University, but pass the bar and become an attorney. My parents both immigrated from India My father drives a transit bus and my mother works retail, so they couldn't afford to send me to school. But I worked hard, was smart enough to get scholarships, and even though I still had to take out some student loans, I was still able to do it.

Inspiration in Life: My parents for encouraging me to keep following my dreams no matter how many obstacles were in my way. I could've very easily settled for something else and lived a comfortable life, but practicing law was my dream, and thanks to their encouragement, it came true.

Hobbies: Reading mystery novels and true crime stories, cooking, riding my bike, camping, travelling, and playing soccer.

Pet Peeves: Anybody that is cynical and negative all the time can go jump off a building for all I care. I try to be a very positive person, but that becomes very hard when someone keeps nagging away about every little thing that can go wrong, and seem to be making every effort to take the wind right outta your sails. The glass may technically be half-empty, but there's still enough water in it for me to splash you in the face if you don't knock it off! I also can't stand the use of the term "Indian" when you're talking about Native American people. Indians are from ''India. ''I know... shocking right? My family is Indian, not Sitting Bull's! I don't care if people in the 1500s were too stupid to realize they weren't in India when they started calling the Native Americans that. You know now, so stop it. This includes the Cleveland Indians baseball team.

3 Words to Describe You: Positive, Opinionated, Persistent

If You Could Have 3 Things on the Island, What Would They Be and Why?: Number one would be a cell phone to call my wife every so often. Number two would be a book of sudoku puzzles to keep my mind sharp. The third thing would be bug spray because bug bites are the worst things about being outdoors by far.

Reason for Being on SURVIVOR: My wife and I are fans of the show, and I think I could do it. I'm always up for a new challenge, and the million dollars at the end is a good sum of money to keep me motivated.

Why You Think You Will Be the Sole SURVIVOR: I'm a pretty smart guy, and I'm also a pretty positive person that I think people like being around. As a public defender, I have experience going through cases with a fine toothed comb and preparing a strategy for the courtroom to persuade a judge and/or a jury. I'm gonna do my best to stay calm, take the game one day at a time, and keep pushing forward as much as I possibly can until I hopefully get the win.