Survivor Shares Reality
From www.dailytitan.com
By Carol Rojas
Survivor Africa winner Ethan Zohn spoke Monday about his work with AIDS in Africa as part of a series to help promote leadership in the Greek community.
The former U.S. and Zimbabwe soccer player was invited to speak by the Greek Life Organization to encourage global awareness and inspire students to contribute to their communities.
“Make today a new beginning for you,” Zohn said to students. “Use the knowledge and power of who you are to make a difference in the lives of others.”
Dean of Students Greek Life Coordinator Deanna Erino said she feels Zohn’s appearance will be a positive influence on students involved in the Greek system.
“Ethan focused on the importance of character in people’s lives,” Erino said. “His message will bring more awareness to global issues and reaffirm the amount of responsibility it takes to have a leadership role.”
Zohn spoke about his life as an ex-reality TV star and how the show Survivor ultimately led him to discover how he could make a difference in the world.
“It didn’t take me long to leave the reality show and get back to reality. It made me take a good hard look at who I was,” Zohn said. “There was all that fancy stuff that made me temporarily happy, but I wanted to be the type of person to use his money, and his celebrity, to make a difference in the lives of others.”
Zohn co-founded Grassroots Soccer together with a group of his former U.S. teammates.
Grassroots Soccer gives extensive sex education classes and training courses to African soccer players who, in turn, use their celebrity status to pass on what they have learned to children in classrooms.
Zohn said that group members know that by using the power of celebrity as a tool, it can help stop the spread of the rampant disease.
“We each have our resources and something that we know how to do,” Zohn said. “I once saw Bono speak and what he said resonated with me. He said ‘Celebrity is a bit ridiculous but it’s currency. Use what you got.’”
Bono, the lead singer of U2, has used his own celebrity status to fight AIDS in Africa. According to the Product Red Web site, an organization he helped found, the huge success has been a result of teaming up with iconic brands. A percentage of each product sold is given to The Global Fund, an international group dedicated to fighting AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
“For this speaker series, we decided to focus on something a little different than the usual talk on alcohol, sex and drugs,” said 21-year-old human services major and Caitlyn Zang, sorority panel president.
“We’re hoping that a talk on world issues will give sororities and fraternities rules and techniques that they can use in their daily lives,” Zang said.
Zohn also offered some suggestions on how students can begin to help the world around them.
“You have to start by making a difference in yourself to make a difference in others,” Zohn said. “Making happiness and hope real for others is the best gift you could give yourself.”