She may be a millionaire now, but Perla Figuereo still pines for the days when she was bombing around the streets of Lewiston with her classmates, maybe hitting up the Italian Bakery or Forage.

Figuereo, now a few years removed from her time at Bates College and living in Los Angeles, was revealed earlier this month as the winner of Season 2 of the Netflix reality show “Squid Game: The Challenge” — a feat that comes with a $4.56 million prize.

Reached this week, Figuereo said she’s been acclimating to her win for the past 10 months since filming wrapped in London, but the last couple weeks have been a whirlwind since the final episode aired.

“I’ve come to terms with what happened, but now I’m reacting to everyone’s reactions to it,” she said. “It’s been interesting, you know, the good and the bad. The haters and the fans.”

Figuereo, 26, somehow beat the odds by outlasting 455 other players, including her brother, in challenges inspired by the fictional “Squid Game” TV series — children’s games like “Red Light, Green Light,” tug of war and marbles.

But like other reality shows, advancing often comes down to social skills, building alliances with other players and developing a winning strategy. Her time at Bates College may have prepared her for those elements in some ways.

Figuereo was a double major at Bates in Rhetoric, Film, Screen Studies and Theater. She also participated in every activity and club she could. She was class president and the first woman and person of color to be student body president, between 2020-21, and she tutored younger students in Lewiston.

“My strategy was just to be myself,” she said about her approach to the show. “I’m a very social person. Genuinely one of my passions in life is people, so my strategy was just to get to know people like I do in my everyday life.”

Charles Nero, professor of Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies and Figuereo’s thesis adviser at Bates, said while he wasn’t previously familiar with the Squid Game show, he wasn’t surprised that Figuereo found a way to win.

Nero said Figuereo launched herself fully into tasks. Her thesis project, which focused on a single television episode, reached 90 pages. Similar projects are typically 30-50 pages, he said.

“Clearly it takes tenacity, stick-to-it-iveness and the ability to hang on by one’s fingernails, and that was my experience with Perla,” he said. “She was an incredible student and extremely intellectually curious. Once she latched onto a project, she really worked it.”

Figuereo said the original Korean “Squid Game” series was one of her favorite TV shows, and when a casting producer asked her to consider it, she asked if her brother, Jeffrey, could join as well. The pair ended up being the last related contestants — until Jeffrey sacrificed himself in a game of marbles.

“It was heartbreaking, but I’m proud that we were the last pair standing,” she said.

Figuereo, who was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in The Bronx, New York, said she initially came to Maine to tour Bowdoin College, but was quickly taken by the Bates campus.

“It was the day after Halloween so the leaves were falling and I was like, ‘This place is magical. Why do I love it so much?'”

She said she still feels a connection to Lewiston because of its immigrant culture and work ethic. The negative stereotypes of the city also reminded her of The Bronx on a small-town scale, and she found herself quick to defend it.

“I miss Italian Bakery with my life,” she said, adding that she also used to frequent Range Pond in Poland. “I had a really special experience in Lewiston, and I think it was because I had a lot of friends who came from similar places as me — immigrant towns with hardworking people.”

Since graduating, Figuereo has been living in LA, doing modeling work and writing. She said she’s still not sure what she’ll do with the money, but that it will allow her to work on creative endeavors like a book and continue to pursue other television roles.

She’d also like to eventually give back to organizations that are important to her.

“Shout out Lewiston,” she said. “My second home.”