Drew Haas grew up in Hallettsville- a town of less than 3,000. He graduated from Hallettsville High School in 2014. A decade later, he left Alaska almost half a million dollars richer.
Haas competed on Outlast, a survival show that splits sixteen people into teams that compete for their share of one million dollars. It tests the contestants’ physical and mental strength. Haas saw the contest as another way to push his limits.
“Every year I do something to challenge myself,” Haas said. “You sit at home and you wonder if you could really do that, and the only way you know you can do it is if you go and actually do it.”
Flown to the Alaskan wilderness, Haas came face to face with the harsh northern environment. Paired with a stranger, Haas worked through multiple of the game’s challenges towards the ultimate goal: survival. Despite the trying odds and draining physical activity, the hardest part of Outlast for Drew was not seeing his family.
“I’ve said it all and I’ll say it again, the hardest part of being out there without any question, was missing my family, it was worse than the freezing, harder than being sick, worse than everything,” Haas admitted. “It felt like we were out there for a year.”
For Haas, competing on Outlast forced him to grow. The challenges of being away from home, away from the comforts of society, and being thrown into a grueling new lifestyle helped Haas to find a new appreciation for his life back home and the relationships that have supported him since the beginning.
“In so many ways, my faith in God is ten times stronger, my relationship with him is stronger, my relationship with my family is stronger because I have so much more of an appreciation for everyone in my life” Haas expressed. “(I’m) grateful for everything, grateful to be able to sit at a table and eat with clean hands and utensils,” Drew said.
Growing up in Hallettsville gave Haas a sense of strength found in family; a family that stretches beyond blood.
“I am very proud of where I am from, and I am proud to say that I am from Hallettsville,” Haas said. “I don’t think people who grew up in big towns get the kind of support system you get from a small town. It was a very, very special moment for me to be able to say that I am from Hallettsville Texas.”
Haas hopes his experience will inspire others to chase their dreams, knowing they can do anything they set their minds to.
“I want it to be a thing for kids from high school and junior high to see you can do so much in life and there is so much more that you can accomplish. They told us in high school that you can do anything but I didn’t believe that,” Haas admitted. “Until I believed in myself and you know when you discipline yourself and believe that you can do something you can do it and I want more kids from small towns to understand that.”
Haas knows what it is like to struggle. All through his life and even recently he’s fought battles with himself and against life in general. He knows what it is like not to see the light at the end of the tunnel, not to have any other option than to keep going.
“For ten years I’ve struggled financially and I’ve worked very, very hard on myself. I’ve felt like I’ve just been spinning my wheels, thinking `Am I ever going to get through this, is this ever going to end?`” Haas reminisced. “So I just kept at it and what I didn’t know at the time is working on myself is what got me through the show. It’s what ended up ultimately helping me win the show.”
