Rafe Judkins

Rafe Lee Judkins is a contestant from.

Profile
Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Rafe Judkins was raised in a huge Mormon family that includes more than 60 first cousins. Rafe's mother, Lani, is an artist, and his father, Ren, an inventor. Judkins' unique childhood had him spending time painting rocks and taking apart machines. At age five, Judkins moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he attended Sewickley Academy for 14 years. During this time, Judkins spent his summers teaching English and science to inner city middle school students. He graduated cum laude in 2001 and was selected as the member of the senior class most likely to be on SURVIVOR.

After graduation, Judkins moved to Providence, Rhode Island, to attend Brown University, where he concentrated in biology and anthropology. While in college, he managed Brown Outdoor Leadership Training (BOLT), a program designed to give students exposure to intense wilderness situations with small groups of people. He also expressed his love of food by founding a cooking class for students run by Brown's head catering chef.

Judkins' love for travel and adventure began early, driving around the country in a seventeen-passenger van with his family. Now 22 years old, he has been to all 50 states and 14 different countries, and he lived for seven months in Sydney, Australia. He believes you haven't really experienced a place unless you've slept on the ground and woken up to the sunrise there (cities excluded). He also enjoys tennis, swimming, water skiing and screenwriting. He is proudest of his ability to play Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" on the piano with his toes. Rafe's hero is his mother, Lani, who is brilliant, beautiful and charming enough to do anything with her life, but she chose to be his mother. He believes she made him every bit the man he is today.

Judkins currently resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his mother, father and brother, Landon. His birth date is January 8, 1983.

Survivor: Guatemala
Rafe Judkins was part of the Yaxha tribe. Rafe had an early alliance with Gary, Stephenie, Morgan McDevitt and Brianna Varela but back-to-back immunity losses caused the departure of McDevitt and Valera. As of the fourth episode, Rafe had been switched to the Nakum tribe along with three other Yaxha members (Jamie, Stephenie, and Lydia). They managed to persuade a Nakum member (Judd) to vote with them, thus giving them a 5-3 majority on Nakum. In episode five, they won the immunity challenge. In episode six, both teams had to vote a member out, but Rafe won individual immunity. As the reward, he was not in danger of being eliminated, he had the opportunity to watch the other tribe during their Tribal Council, and he was allowed to give individual immunity to a player on the other team. He chose Gary. In episode seven, Rafe, along with Stephenie, had to solve a puzzle in order to win tribal immunity. They finished the puzzle in the nick of time, thus helping their tribe go into the merge with a majority.

In episode eight, the teams merged into the Xhakum (red buffs) tribe; Rafe and Lydia worked on the team flag. Rafe's alliance expanded to include Cindy, and although Rafe was tempted to vote out Jamie due to Jamie taunting the tribe members who were in the voting minority, ultimately his alliance voted out challenge threat Brandon. In episode nine, Rafe continued to be frustrated with Jamie, and nearly beat him in an immunity challenge centered on navigating across bridges. In episode ten, Rafe won his second individual immunity in a challenge in which he had to climb through various hurdles and ropes. To his surprise, Rafe began to think he would be seen as a challenge threat. Jamie offered Rafe a final 3 alliance with Judd, but Rafe, increasingly upset by Jamie's paranoia, convinced alliance partners Stephenie and Lydia that it was the right time to vote Jamie out. Afterwards, he worked with Stephenie and Lydia to overthrow Judd, giving Danni a second chance at the game.

Rafe's main alliance was with Stephenie, and his plan was to eliminate every player he felt would lose to her in the final 2, thus ensuring she would take him if she won the final immunity. He wanted another partner who would take him to the final 2, and this was Danni. As a result, after winning the a complicated maze/puzzle immunity challenge, he engineered Lydia's departure, in spite of her being no threat for the upcoming endurance challenge. At that challenge, Rafe lost his concentration and was eliminated. Danni then beat Stephenie. After he saw a sobbing Stephenie, he told Danni that any promises that she had made to him were no longer existent and that she could take Steph to the final 2 if Danni wanted to. Due to her belief that she might not beat Rafe in front of the jury, Danni took Steph to the final 2; although Rafe felt she made a good strategic move, he was bothered by her decision as he had hoped she would take him based on their bond, not on a promise she had made. With Rafe on the jury, he cast the sole vote for Stephenie.

Rafe rewarded $85,000 for coming in third.

Trivia

 * Rafe was the youngest male castaway on Survivor: Guatemala.
 * Rafe won the most individual immunity challenges on Survivor: Guatemala.
 * Rafe is the most recent person to cast an immunity vote, following the Koror tribe from the previous season.