Hello, everyone. Glad to see some of you again, and admittedly worried to see others.
I guess I'll just lay it out plain and simple, beginning to end: what my plans were going into the game, how they changed, and why I feel you should vote for me.
First, my plan going into this game was extremely different from the strategy I ended up using throughout the majority of the game. After a long hiatus in gaming, I wanted to come out strong, dominate challenges, be a social butterfly, and play the way I always enjoyed playing. I tried to do that, but I was plagued by a fairly inactive tribe. Jacob, Bella, and I managed to talk a bit here and there, but the others just weren't around. Because of that, Immunity was just never in sight for us, and we were forced to play a game that revolved around Tribal Council. It sucked. It was embarrassing, demoralizing, and the worst part was that there was so little we could do about it.
Then we shuffled, and I figured things might change. They didn't, and part of that was my fault. I wanted to make contact with people, but the attitude of the game just seemed so quiet. I missed a challenge due to work, and I was (understandably) voted off. I expected it, and there was essentially nothing I could do about it...then the twist. I didn't abandon the game, and luckily I didn't. I was given a second chance, which I understand was an unpopular event in the game. If I were still in and someone else had been given a second chance, I probably would have felt the same way.
I instantly felt outcasted, because I felt like I didn't belong in the game. However, like earlier, I didn't give up. I went to the people I felt most comfortable with, and luckily for me, I hadn't been abandoned. From that moment on, my strategy had to change. I knew I was a target simply because I'd been given that second chance, so I became paranoid. The only way to fight that off was to lay low, and as many of you will attest (because of comments made), I laid very low. I came when I needed to, and spoke to who I had to. Even one of my closest allies was worried I'd disappeared, but if you paid attention, I still competed in challenges, I still came to Tribal Council, and aside from one other work-flub, I always voted.
It was a strategy. I knew what I was doing, and it sucked. The challenges didn't allow for me to power my way to Immunity, and to talk with every single person on the tribe about strategy would have been stupid (girl gets outcasted back in and tries to take over; how would that look?) When I had the chance to win Immunity, I did, but those chances didn't come often.
I did what I needed to do to survive. The strategy isn't the most popular. Under the radar, coattail riding, lurking, floating, whatever you want to call it. I know it's not the most heroic or the most dynamic, but I learned that sometimes it's the only option, so I used it.
So why should you vote for me? Look at the list of things I didn't do: I didn't lie. I didn't cheat. I didn't betray anyone. I never made a promise that I didn't keep; admittedly, I needed to make few. I played this game with 100% honesty. Even people who didn't like me recognized me for it. Were there things I would have liked to have gone differently? Absolutely. But I made it to the end, and though I didn't do the way I expected, at least I am not ashamed of the way I played.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and hopefully I've satisfied as clearly as possible why I think I deserve to have made it here.
