ASHLYEE HICKMANLiving Editor
Savannah Overton wants to save the world, one drop of water at a time.
No, not by a keen superhero power like Captain Planet would have, but instead, with a plan..In her involvement with the Wishing Well Initiative, she works alongside her team to present the people of the African nations with a precious resource — water. It is their goal to provide Africa with 1,000 wells.
Daily, she brightens the lives of those around her with her smile and booming, infectious laugh. For Overton, every day is precious. With being diagnosed with Blounts Disease, a shin bone growth disorder, at age 11 and Fibro Myalgia at 14, which left her in a wheelchair for five months, Overton has had her share of tough times. Still she says, life couldn’t be better. And Overton wants to make sure it is the same for everybody.
What is something that you have set your mind to achieve?
I’ve had this fixation, or crazy complex, since I was 13 to change the world. My freshman year in my sociology class my professor asked us what we wanted to do. My reaction was that I just want to make a difference. I don’t enjoy living life when people’s hopes and dreams are forgotten. It’s a pretty huge fixation. If I have to spend my life alone for someone to take another sip of water I’d do it. It’s what God has blessed me with, or I’m half crazy.
How has battling with a disease affected you?
I missed so much. I lost friends; I gained weight. I was being ostracized for being disabled. It really gave me the insight on what a lot of people have to deal with.
What is one of the social issues that you are most passionate about?
Gang violence. I went to Santa Monica High School, and when I was there I heard a lot about gang violence. It’s just crazy because its like for too long people of color have been blaming each other. I’m talking about everyone. We blame each other and one of the main things with gang violence is that it’s somebody else’s problem. My biggest dream is to sit down with every child in the United States and let them know they have a future. They can dream and hope for anything they want I can’t stand to live in a place where there is so much that we are blessed with and have at our disposal and still understand so little.
In terms of your future, what are some of your goals?
Outside all of the idealistic ones, well, I have a crazy amount of love in me. I love my family, I’m in love with my friends, hopefully I can find a career that I am also in love with. I want to find something that moves me. I also want to have a family. I want to have like six kids and then adopt four more when they are all gone. I want to see my kids grow up, to see my friends fall in love; things we are just supposed to be here for.
Do you have any advice for the Pepperdine students who also want to change the world?
First come talk to me because I’ll have a job for them. I’m huge with quotes and what I want to say comes from Buddhist spiritually. Discover your world and your purpose and give your life to it. Just enjoy life as is. Take one day at a time. Realize that what you are doing, though you may not know it now, is making a difference. And don’t be afraid of change.
Who has inspired you the most in your life?
My parents. They both chose a direction and went with it. They dream. My parents are just dreamers. Of course there are fears that those dreams may never come true, but you still have to have them.
01-18-2007