THE CHALLENGE
If you know Kevin, you know he loved television. The OC, Scrubs, and How I Met your Mother, just to name a few. But he really loved certain reality TV shows, especially ones with competitions: The Real World, Survivor, and of course, the Challenge.
Kevin watched the Challenge from early on, back when it was Real World vs Road Rules. He loved the drama, the fighting, and athletic competition. If he needed to get pumped up, he would watch CT drag Johnny Bananas on his back like he was a backpack (IYKYK). I too had watched the challenge early on, but I hadn’t watched the show in a few years; that changed when Kevin arrived at NYU.
Kevin would always share with his friends the things that truly interested him and he loved; he would do his best to convince you to join him because he knew you would love it too. Once Kevin knew I used to watch, he made sure I was watching with him when new seasons came out.
One of the seasons was called “Battle of the Seasons.” They had teams of The Real World seasons based on location going head to head. One of the groups was the team from Real World Brooklyn, which was one of Kevin’s favorite The Real World seasons; you could argue it played a part in convincing Kevin to come to NYU to be in New York City.
This came out in 2012. Kevin was finishing up his final semester at NYU and I had already graduated. It was the early days of social media: Facebook was established but Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat were just gaining traction. Kevin was an expert at all of them already, making sure to follow some of his favorite cast members. It was a Thursday night, so Kevin, Kyle, and myself were at the 13th step ($8 pitchers!). I just assumed it was a normal Thursday; Kevin had other plans.
He knew that they were filming the reunion in NYC; he was following Chet and Sarah (2 Brooklyn members) and was determined for us to meet them after the reunion finished filming. We are at the bar, awaiting an update from them. Finally, they post a picture from a bar in the West Village. Kevin tells us to finish our beers and hails a yellow cab (which we never did) and off we go. We get to the bar, go inside, grab a beer, and see them hanging out. We take a few sips, and Kevin tells me “Let’s Go.” So off we go, Kevin walks right up and introduces himself, telling them what big fans we are.
I couldn’t tell if they were more shocked at being recognized at an NYC bar or happy that they had fans. We ended up talking with them for about 10 minutes and took a picture, then left them to enjoy the rest of their night. Kevin was so excited and happy, smiling his big smile the rest of our night, saying “I can’t believe we got to meet them! They were so cool!” over and over.
This story to me perfectly sums up Kevin: confident, courageous, outgoing, dedicated, and making sure his friends were with him every step of the way. As Barney Stinson said: “Whatever you do in this life, it’s not legendary unless your friends are there to see it.” I know if there’s anything Kevin would want, it is his friends getting together to make legendary memories that last a lifetime.