Two years after being the second Canadian ever to win Survivor, Maryanne Oketch is putting a portion of her winnings towards a worthy pursuit, enrolling in medical school in London, Ont.
She recently moved to London to study to become a doctor at the Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry.
The 26-year-old wrote in an Instagram post that this is a return to the community where she began her life in Canada when her family immigrated in 2001.
“Winning Survivor made me realize that now I have the financial freedom to do things because I want to do them, not because of the money associated. So I was like, let me go back to school. Let me go back to learning, back to the grind, because it’s always been something I’ve been interested in and why not?” she says.
The 26-year-old from Ajax, Ont., won Survivor 42 in 2022, becoming the second Canadian to win the game, with a landslide 7-1-0 win after orchestrating a blindside with an extra vote and finding an immunity idol.
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The then seminary student made a name for herself with a larger-than-life personality with her over-the-top positivity and emotions to downplay her threat level in the game until the final vote, when she showed all the moves she had been making behind the scenes.
Since winning Survivor, the 26-year-old’s life has drastically changed, noting that after filming the show, she finished her master’s in theological studies, became a pastor, met someone, got engaged, and married.
But Oketch says after a year of being a pastor, she realized that although she loved it, she did not see it as a long-term job, which gave her an “existential crisis,” leading her to medicine.
“I’ve always had a passion for science, and I’ve always had a passion for helping people, and I think from about 2020 to 2021, the era of COVID, I really realized that there was such a big separation between science and faith,” she recalls.
“So people were like, if you’re someone of faith, you can’t half believe in science, and if you’re someone of the science, you can’t believe faith, and there’s this big disconnect.”
Oketch says she realized that science and faith can go hand in hand.
“Medicine is healing the person, but it’s not just physical healing; it’s mental, spiritual, and really being able to go and integrate that passion and my faith into medicine was something that I was really interested in doing,” she says.
The medical student says she is looking for a role that lets her work with patients regularly, like family medicine or working with people with chronic diseases.
She points to the people aspect of the game and learning to interact with others in a kind way, which will help her work with patients throughout her career.
The new med student says her experience on Survivor also taught her some things to help her handle the pressure of studying medicine.
“There were moments when I hit rock bottom when I was like, I’m never going to win, or I’m missing my parents, or I’m missing my family, and I don’t know what’s going to happen,” she says.
“Medicine is not an easy journey — you’re learning, you have to go through hard situations — but the thing is, I’ve already had an experience when I’ve had that difficulties and triumphs, so when I’m in those difficult times during my medical journey, I know that I’ll be able to triumph and be able to go and complete the journey.”
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