Everyone has the ability to effect change in his own way, said Ethan Zohn, the $1 million winner of the CBS show "Survivor: Africa" during the keynote address of Civitas Week Tuesday night in Bender Arena.
After winning "Survivor," Zohn took all his winnings and gave back to the community. A former professional soccer player in Zimbabwe, he saw the hardships Africans live with.
In Zimbabwe, if one goes on vacation, "you see the beautiful sunset and soccer on every corner," Zohn said. "But if you look a little deeper, you'll see bread lines three miles long."
Zohn said the AIDS epidemic, which kills 10,000 people every day, particularly affected him.
He said 220,000 people died in the tsunami, which is 22 days in the AIDS epidemic.
When Zohn won the prize money, the first thoughts he said he had were to buy a nice car, get a new apartment and "make Paris Hilton shut the hell up."
However, it "didn't take long to leave the reality show and get back to reality," he said.
With his winnings, he created the Grassroot Soccer organization, which teaches pro soccer players in Africa about AIDS so they can go to schools and talk.
"Imagine the effect when these players go to talk," he said, explaining that soccer in most African countries is as big as baseball and football combined.
Even the smallest tasks can make a big difference in the world, Zohn said. One day while on a trip to a town during "Survivor," he played hackey sack with some local kids. All the kids he played with were HIV-positive.
"A toy to us was a luxury to this little kid," said Zohn, who gave his hackey sack, which was his one luxury item on the show, to the local kids.
Zohn said he is proud of winning "Survivor" but more proud of being a member of the community.
He gave advice to all the students in the audience about being civil.
"Staying true to your core value will help you win more than a game show - it will help you in life," Zohn said. "Your challenge is to make a difference for yourself while making a difference for others as well."
Students said the speech made them want to give back to their communities.
"It empowered you to make a difference," said Lauren Lane, a sophomore in the School of Communication.
"It was very motivational. He made some good points," said Halley Ofner, a junior in SOC. "We are in a position to make a difference, and there's no reason why we shouldn't"