Born and raised in Bethesda, Maryland, Colleen attended a catholic, all-girls school at Connolly school of the Holy Child in Potomac Maryland during middle school through her junior year. She transferred to Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda for her senior year, where she graduated in 1994. Colleen's first love in school was behind the scenes of a theater, working with such aspects as lights, sound and set design, say her parents John, director of support systems for Geico Insurance, and Patricia, a career counselor in Bethesda. After high school, Colleen decided to earn her bachelor's degree in theater at the University of Georgia in Athens. During her time at UGA, she was able to study abroad in London, England on a six-month internship with the London Film Festival, and upon graduation, she spent two months in Ghana, West Africa followed by two months traveling in France. Upon her return, Colleen relocated to Miami, where she enrolled in a 2-year portfolio program at Miami Ad School. She studied copyrighting and computer graphic design, with aspirations to make a portfolio that she hoped would eventually lead to a job in creative advertising. Her previous jobs include working as an intern for Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., waitressing, and working as a clerk at Books & Books on Miami Beach. Then in the fall of 1999, while walking in CocoWalk (a trendy Miami mall), Colleen and a friend stumbled upon an open casting call for contestants on a new CBS show called Survivor: China. She applied after being talked into accepting her spot on the show by her friend, and also for the experience of traveling to a new place where she's never been. "That's really what interested me the most about the show when my friend and I saw the open audition. I said, 'It's filmed in Malaysia -- I'm going'" She took a quarter off of school to participate in the show, and the rest is history. Her expectation was that she was going on a camping trip to Malaysia...then the light came on and she was going 'God, I could win a lot of money here'. But all this interest, this status, she didn't expect this at all. The television phenomenon assembled 16 applicants and put them on an island off the coast of Malaysia for 39 days, leaving them to fend for themselves, with only sparse mainland amenities, while cameras recorded their every move for viewers at home. Her fellow contestants voted Colleen off the island during the show's 11th episode. She may not have walked away with the million dollars, but she became a fan favorite and captured the hearts of Americans everywhere with her easygoing attitude, effervescent charm and bubbly personality, as well as her cute-as-a-button good looks. After returning from the island and surviving the media whirlwind that followed, she finished the rest of her first year at Miami Ad School. Then she decided to move to San Francisco to intern for her second year at the school, and possibly entertain the constant offerings to work in the entertainment industry. Colleen describes herself as talkative, independent and a bit spacey. Her favorite topics at a dinner party are stories and jokes ("I still believe in story time"). In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and cooking, and prefers to listen to talk radio. An avid lover of French films, she admits that Kevin Costner's "Robin Hood" can still make her cry.
Brought soap as her luxury item on "Survivor." Graduated from University of Georgia in Athens Turned down $100,000 to pose for Playboy Colleen's last words after being voted off the island were "Be Nice, Play Fair". She was invited to play Survivor All-Stars but she declined.