By Rachel Kalina
It was no joke, however. The fifteen year old ended up spending about three weeks out in California¹s Sierra Nevada Mountains with others her age on a reality show akin to ³Survivor² and MTV¹s ³Real World Road Rules Challenge.²
³I liked how the players had a really strong bond,² Miller said of why she wanted to participate on the show. ³It looked like a lot of fun and a good experience.²
The Endurance reality competition series enlists ten boys and girls between the ages of twelve through fifteen to engage in tests of mental and physical endurance. The kids compete in intense games and must try to collect 13 ³pyramid pieces of Endurance² to win a vacation. The first episode, which aired on Oct. 14, featured kids racing across floating balance beams in a lake. There are plot twists are eliminations of participants throughout the show, and the kids are constantly on camera even when not competing.
³It was awkward at first,² Miller said of being on camera so much. ³The first day, you¹d turn around and there were two camera men filming you. But then you learn to ignore it and it becomes second nature.²
Miller and the other contestants were asked to fly out to California with a chaperone. Mom Stacy Miller was just as excited as her daughter to enable this dream for her.
³We were hugging each other and jumping up and down,² Stacy said of when they got the news Darci had a chance of being on the show. Dad Steve and Darci¹s brother, Nolan, were proud as well. ³It was a family affair.² Nolan had helped Darci film the five-minute entry videos she needed to get onto Endurance.
Stacy spent her time in California in a hotel with the other parents and siblings of the competitors, and was not allowed any contact with her daughter. The kids were houses in two treehouses built specifically for the show, decked out with bunkbeds and basic amenities. No electronics or outside contact was allowed, which left room for the kids to really get to know each other and build game strategies together.
³The best part of being on the show was making friends and keeping in contact with them afterwards,² Darci said. ³While you¹re there, no one else goes through what you go through,² like outside friends, she said.
Darci had left summer camp early to participate on the show, and her friends were upset she wouldn¹t be spending more time with them. To make things more complicated, Darci wasn¹t allowed to tell anyone where she was going when she left to film ³Endurance.² She said things smoothed over when she held a premiere party for the show¹s first episode.
³They think it¹s really cool,² Darci said of her friends¹ reactions to her being on ³Endurance.² ³They keep asking me to tell them what happens. They¹ve been really sneaky, so I¹ve had to stay on my toes,² she said with a smile.
A straight-A student at Baldwin Senior High School, Darci knows all about staying mentally sharp. She also plays soccer for the Police Action League and is a member of her high school¹s drama stage crew. Darci also takes care of her birds Nicky and Tweedles.
Stacy was happy her daughter had such a great experience putting her mental and physical skills to use on ³Endurance.²
³It was a dream come true for her,² she said, ³something she had been wanting
to do.²
