Joni Newman was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. The oldest of three siblings, Joni is a self proclaimed busy bee who enjoys a full schedule, and little sleep. Well, maybe not the little sleep part. She attends the local high school as a Junior.

Joni keeps busy acting at the local children's theater, volunteering as an ambassador at a hospital, taking five different types of dance, and teaching three more, writing all she can in her spare time, as well as maintaining a difficult school schedule.

After she graduates, Joni plans on taking a semester of classes at Weber State University, where she plans to study the performing arts. After Weber, she wants to enroll as a student at Brigham Young University where she intends to major in English History and minor in the Performing Arts. She hopes to spend a semester abroad in England, where she can fulfill the oh-so-romantic dream of running in the English countryside.

Joni enjoys reading and watching classic movies. A self proclaimed Star Wars nerd, she can, and will quote the original trilogy if asked. She also enjoys Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. Other talents include cross stitching, knitting, and work in ceramics.

Joni describes herself as fun-loving, spunky, competitive and talkative. She hopes to prove herself as a force to be reckoned with.

Application Essay

Being part of theater means having to adapt to all sorts of conditions. Live theater means working with yourself. If you have a cold and can't sing, the show goes on, and you still have to sing. If the audience isn't laughing that jokes, you find a way to make them laugh, or to keep going anyway. If a piece of the set falls over, you improv. If an understudy has to stand in, you work with them as a team. I am used to working with all sorts of people in all sorts of conditions because of what I do. I can stay on my toes, and I never give up.

Why do I believe that I could be the final Survivor? Because I don't give up when bad things happen. In other games I have played, my neck has been on the line and I have managed to find a way out. There is ALWAYS a way out. It isn't ever over until the torch is snuffed.

The ability to adapt is what separates the winners from the non in this game. When a merge comes, or an unexpected twist hits you, the true survivor looks around for a minute, then gets back on his feet and goes to work. I work well with people, because over the years I have learned that there is a time to lead, and a time to follow. A time to talk, and a time to shut your mouth. Anyone who talks too much needs to remember what happens to a fish when they open their mouth too much. I am optomistic. I can always find the good in situations, and I love to laugh even when things go wrong. I love to strategise and to find loopholes. Debate has taught me not only what to say, but how to say it.

Finalist Essay

5. Five Fast Facts about Joni:

1) My most recent part in a play was Wilbur, in Charlotte's Web, in which I had to look like a giant blob of cotton candy (pictures availiable...the costume was hidious). I managed to bruise my knees, cut open my finger, and get called "little piggy" enough to drive any sane person mad.

2) Prior to that, I played the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland. I doubled as Alice's older sister, prop master, and child shepherder (there was a bit of audience participation involved). I learned to be quick on my feet, and patient with the situation. Oddly enough, the best performance was one in which I had the flu.

3) I memorize movies. For the fun of it.

4) I may look naive, or come across as book wormish, but I, like Ogres, and onions, have layers.

5) I had virtually no friends in 6th grade, and since then have learned not to care what people think of me.

Thanks for your consideration, hope to "see" you again soon,

Joni

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