Survivor birthday: Dawn Meehan (South Pacific, Caramoan) turns 47

Dawn Meehan’s true inner strength shined through way more than her numerous tear-soaked confessionals. The proud Survivor mom turns 47 today.

Player: Dawn Meehan
Occupation: English Professor
Hometown: South Jordan, Utah
Seasons: South Pacific, Caramoan
Tribes: Savaii (Orange Buff), Te Tuna (Yellow Buff) in South Pacific, Bikal (Purple Buff), Enil Edam (Green Buff) in Caramoan
Finished: 10/18 in South Pacific, 2/20 in Caramoan

Whenever reading players’ bios, it’s odd to see what kind of former Survivor players they claim to be and how they end up playing. Dawn Meehan claimed to be like Sandra, Parvati and Stephenie in her pre-South Pacific interview, especially claiming to have the physical strength of those two latter players.

It was a bold claim for Dawn, especially coming into South Pacific showing an emotional roller coaster of a debut. Survivor is hard, and nobody who’s ever played can speak to authority about the mental, physical and psychological drain being out on an island for 39 days, with little food and water and a television crew filming your every move, can do to your psyche.

It wasn’t until episode 4 of Survivor South Pacific that Dawn Meehan was able to demonstrate just how like Parvati and Stephenie she was by participating in the show’s most honest strength-based competition: “Shoulder the Load.” Three players from both teams must shoulder weight for as long as possible, with 20 pounds systematically added to one player per team, per round.