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Name (Age): Oberon 'Berry' Michaels (21)

​Hometown: Malibu, CA

​Occupation: Lifeguard

​Personal Claim to Fame: Okay this'll sound weird, but kinda my whole life. I'm proud of who I am, but if I had to pinpoint it, it'd come down dropping out of med school to be a lifeguard. I studied so hard and put so much time and effort into getting the grades for it, but at the end of the day it wasn't me. I'm so happy being a lifeguard because it combines my love for surfing and the beach with my love for helping people, so it's just the best thing I could do.

​Inspiration in Life: I have two candidates for this. The first is my parents Esther and Rebecca, because they're the most insanely supportive people of anything I do. Seriously, who else would be okay with their kid dropping out of medical school when financially it'd be so much more sound than anything else, especially in a time they weren't exactly the best off money wise, just so their kid could be happy. They've really made me the person I am today by being so selfless, and I couldn't be happier with them. The second option is by best friend Nick because the dude's got serious balls. Seriously, he has the most courage of anyone I've ever met, and it's just so admirable that he's constantly willing to push himself outside of the comfort zones of himself and society to seek happiness. I really admire people like that.

​Hobbies: Late night beach bonfires with my group of friends especially the part where we go get sushi at midnight, going on solo hikes through forests and nature in general as a way to test myself and also clear my thoughts, and not that I admit it a lot, but I really like writing poetry as a creative outlet for my emotions.

​Pet Peeves: Aside from the obvious things like people with poor manners or people who are just generally rude, I can't stand people who make judgements of people in any regard, good or bad. Let people tell their own story when they're ready to, don't put labels on them and try tell their story for them, because I guarantee you that you'll just stomp on their individuality and make them feel crap. People who do that are seriously just bad people.

​3 Words to Describe You: Surprising, calm, adventurous.

​SURVIVOR Contestant You are Most Like: I mean, it might be a weird pick but I'm honestly going to go with Yau-Man Chan. He really exceeded the expectations people had for him, and even though I'm about a third of his age, I think we'd play similar games. He was the best challenge competitor in the season, but he had the brains and wit to back that up which people didn't catch on to until he was already solidified on all sides by social connections. I don't take anything for granted though, I'm not cocky like that. I fully know something could derail it, but in a perfect world my game is similar to his.

​Reason for Competing on SURVIVOR: I have two primary reasons. I've watched the show here and there but it's not some huge lifelong dream for me like it is for some other people. I want to experience the adventure of it, because I love to challenge myself in new ways. Outside of that, I want to be able to bring home the money to make my life and my parent's lives easier. I could pay off their mortgage, put money away for them for retirement, and still have some leftover to make things easier for myself.

​Why You Believe You Will Become the SOLE SURVIVOR: I mean, on paper I'm kinda built to play Survivor. I spend all my time on the beach or out on hikes and stuff, so I can build fires, I can do all the outdoors stuff, and that won't bother me. I also stay physically active in multiple different ways, so I'm pretty well rounded for challenges, and then mentally I'm a hell of a lot smarter than most people will think I am. If I can hide behind the surfer bro side of things for long enough, then I should be able to win on paper, but this is Survivor. Nothing ever goes perfectly, and there's a huge list of things that could get me sent home if someone catches on to it.

​Additional Information (to allow me to know more about him/her): 

Oberon, more commonly referred to by his nickname since childhood, Berry (both being a short form for his name but also due to his parents saying he was as sweet as a berry), was born on the 2nd of June in 1996. He currently resides Malibu, California where he shares a small beachfront house with his best friend since third grade, Nick, who he hopes to bring onto the show as his loved one. Spending the first few months of his life in foster care after his birth mother chose to give him up due to not being prepared to care for a child yet, Oberon was adopted by a lesbian couple, Esther and Rebecca. Growing up, Oberon spent all his spare time on the beach, and by just four years old he was up on a surfboard enjoying the waves, which became a home away from home to him, both metaphorically and at times literally. When he turned ten, Esther underwent chemotherapy for her breast cancer which she had developed, which became overwhelming for Oberon to see someone he cared so deeply for in so much pain, which lead to him leaving home for a few nights multiple times, sleeping on the beach to get away from it all. Eventually, it all cleared up, and it taught him that no matter how much struggle someone has to overcome, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Carrying this optimistic outlook through his entire life, Oberon spent his time taking any opportunities he could, taking advanced classes all throughout his schooling, eventually deciding on wishing to study medicine to help others like Esther. When he turned eighteen, he decided to track down and eventually met up with his birth mother, though he didn't feel any connection to her as he was an infant when she gave him up. Despite this, he remains glad he at least met her, and the two send each other Christmas cards and keep in touch every now and then. After graduating high school and successfully applying for medical school, he realised that it wasn't something he could see himself doing, so he decided to drop out, instead becoming a lifeguard on the beach he grew up on to still channel this same desire to wish to help people in a way that was more suited to his lifestyle. At a similar time to this, his best friend Nick came out to him as gay at a bonfire on the beach for Oberon's nineteenth birthday, also expressing romantic interest in Oberon. Having not been in a serious relationship prior to this but also never considered himself to be gay, Oberon decided to let things play out, but after a while of not reciprocating the same level of attraction Nick had for him, the two amicably ended things, but still remained best friends, with Oberon exclusively seeing women afterwards. The two recently saved up to share the costs of buying a small two bedroom house together by the beach, which they dubbed the Hangout House. Despite this, Oberon still makes regular trips to visit his parents, as he feels closer to them than anyone else in the world. Due to them being fairly old, having adopted him when they were both in their late thirties, Oberon tends to gravitate towards middle-aged and older people, as he feels more at home with them. This isn't to say he isn't close to his small group of friends his age, but he still just has comfort with his parents more than anyone due to everything they went through as a family. In the game of Survivor, he hopes to work with similar minded people to himself, that take every opportunity in life and truly try to live life to the fullest and achieve their dreams, no matter how unrealistic they may be.