Christy Smith
Encyclopedia
Christy Smith is the first deaf contestant on the CBS
reality television series Survivor: The Amazon
and co-founder of Discovering Deaf Worlds.
and American Sign Language
.
She obtained a Bachelor of Arts
degree
in sociology with a minor in criminology from Gallaudet University
in 2000. After graduating from Gallaudet, Aspen Camp School for the Deaf as a guide. After competing on Survivor, Smith created "Christy's Kids: Challenge Yourself," a television show that debuted on Rocky Mountain PBS on April 2005.
In January 2007, Smith co-founded Discovering Deaf Worlds, an organization which uses world travel to increase deafness awareness.
reality television series Survivor. As a contestant on Survivor: The Amazon
, Smith shocked her tribe members on the first day when she announced that she was deaf. She competed on Survivor to bring awareness of deaf culture and in the hope of bringing home the prize money.
On day 33 of the show, Smith was voted out in a 4-2 decision by Jenna Morasca
, Heidi Strobel, Matthew Von Ertfelda, and Rob Cesternino
. Smith came in sixth place and became the fourth member of the jury of seven that would ultimately vote for the winner of the show. In the end, Smith voted for Jenna to win the $1,000,000 USD grand prize.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
reality television series Survivor: The Amazon
Survivor: The Amazon
Survivor: The Amazon is the sixth season of the United States reality show Survivor. It was filmed in 2002 and 13 episodes aired weekly in the United States on CBS from February 13 - May 11, 2003....
and co-founder of Discovering Deaf Worlds.
Early life
Christy Smith was born premature, weighing less than 2 lbs. As a baby, she pulled out her air tube and ended up losing 90 percent of her hearing. Smith is deaf, and she is skilled in lip readingLip reading
Lip reading, also known as lipreading or speechreading, is a technique of understanding speech by visually interpreting the movements of the lips, face and tongue with information provided by the context, language, and any residual hearing....
and American Sign Language
American Sign Language
American Sign Language, or ASL, for a time also called Ameslan, is the dominant sign language of Deaf Americans, including deaf communities in the United States, in the English-speaking parts of Canada, and in some regions of Mexico...
.
Education and career
Smith attended high school and college in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
She obtained a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
in sociology with a minor in criminology from Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is a federally-chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing, located in the District of Columbia, U.S...
in 2000. After graduating from Gallaudet, Aspen Camp School for the Deaf as a guide. After competing on Survivor, Smith created "Christy's Kids: Challenge Yourself," a television show that debuted on Rocky Mountain PBS on April 2005.
In January 2007, Smith co-founded Discovering Deaf Worlds, an organization which uses world travel to increase deafness awareness.
Survivor: The Amazon
Smith is the first deaf contestant to appear on the CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
reality television series Survivor. As a contestant on Survivor: The Amazon
Survivor: The Amazon
Survivor: The Amazon is the sixth season of the United States reality show Survivor. It was filmed in 2002 and 13 episodes aired weekly in the United States on CBS from February 13 - May 11, 2003....
, Smith shocked her tribe members on the first day when she announced that she was deaf. She competed on Survivor to bring awareness of deaf culture and in the hope of bringing home the prize money.
On day 33 of the show, Smith was voted out in a 4-2 decision by Jenna Morasca
Jenna Morasca
Jenna Morasca is an American actress, former swimsuit model and American reality TV contestant who was the million-dollar grand prize winner of Survivor: The Amazon and previously worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
, Heidi Strobel, Matthew Von Ertfelda, and Rob Cesternino
Rob Cesternino
Rob Cesternino is best known for his appearances in both Survivor: Amazon in 2003 and Survivor: All Stars. Originally from Wantagh, New York, Cesternino worked as a computer projects coordinator for an insurance general agency before Survivor.Petrozzello, Donna . , Daily News Petrozzello, Donna...
. Smith came in sixth place and became the fourth member of the jury of seven that would ultimately vote for the winner of the show. In the end, Smith voted for Jenna to win the $1,000,000 USD grand prize.