Rome High grad Carson Garrett just misses his shot at Survivor's $1 million prize in dramatic finale

Carson Garrett was 20 years old when the 44th season of “Survivor” was taped in Fiji a year ago.

Through each episode, he competed in the challenges and among his fellow cast members, using his same skills that earned him the student government presidency at Rome High in 2019-20 and the honor of being class salutatorian.

He did that, by the way, during the first year of covid and all the havoc it created on area schools.

Garrett practiced for what came next and likewise used the brain that has him attending Georgia Tech as a budding NASA engineer.

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In Wednesday’s three-hour block of “Survivor” on CBS, Garrett won the first immunity challenge, guaranteeing him a seat among the final four. But the series’ last game saw him finish second. He next competed in a fire-building challenge and lost to Heidi, who set the show record for her speed in burning through a piece of twine and catapulted into the final three.

The “jury” of earlier contestants voted out of the game eventually picked Yam Yam Arocho (pronounced Jam Jam) as the winner. Garrett, ever the gamesman, was both supportive and very analytical when it came to reviewing the finalists and deciding the winner.

Adding to it all: It was Yam Yam, a 36-year-old native of Puerto Rico, who taught Garrett how to make fire with a knife and flint, a skill the other contestants had mastered. The lesson was successful but Garrett couldn’t match Heidi’s speed.