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By Melissa (Age 26, USA)
In season 5 of One Tree Hill, Sophia Bush’s character Brooke Davis changed her fictional fashion world with the declaration that “Zero is not a size”. In the real world, Sophia Bush is just as committed to changing the world. She just wants to save it at the same time. In many ways, the journey and development of Sophia mirror that of Brooke. Brooke started out as more shallow and gradually grew to a woman of depth, compassion, and substance. While I don’t feel that Sophia was nearly as shallow as Brooke, she wasn’t as globally conscious back then either. If you look back to the early years of “One Tree Hill”, most stories about Sophia focused on gossip and fashion. Today, you’d be hard pressed to find a story that puts gossip and Sophia Bush in the same sentence. But words & phrases like ‘passionate’, ‘activist’, ‘charitable’, and ‘make a difference’. Those are in abundance. So how does Sophia change the world? Step 1: Start with the Heart
Most of us know that it’s easy to say you want to make a difference of donate a few bucks. But keeping up on a cause takes more than a casual effort. It takes passion. Sophia knows something about that. “I’m a passionate, fiercely loyal person,” she mentioned in one interview. Sophia shows she cares in many ways. One big way is her love for her fans. One fan in particular remembered missing out on an autograph session and Sophia stopped, came back past security, and stayed to wish the girl a happy birthday. Visitors to the “One Tree Hill” set say Sophia is always gracious and friendly. It’s easy to see that Sophia’s heart is full of passion. Step 2: Make Up Your Mind
The second step in making a difference is making the decision to be active. “People need a reason to motivate. A reason to change a ritual to serve as a jumping off point for being better,” says Sophia. “But why not attempt betterment, aim for positive change, anytime?” Going into acting wasn’t an easy decision. She had wanted to be a doctor. “I started doing theater in high school because it was a requirement. At first, I was completely irritated. I just thought it was a major inconvenience. But I ended up loving it. I made a decision to follow through with it because I never enjoyed anything as much as being up onstage and being someone else. So I decided to pursue it, and voila!” Sophia’s made a similar decision to make a difference in the world through helping the environment. That’s her passion. It wasn’t so long ago that Sophia truly became an activist either. She was doing her part but over the last year, she’s gone from being a small voice to one of the most active actors and women of our generation. Step 3: Be an Example
It doesn’t work to simply talk about it. You have to be an example as well and Sophia is doing exactly that. Sophia’s been an example for a while. Even when she was younger she was trying to make a difference in the environment. "I remember in the sixth grade, my mom being very amused by me trying to start a clean up the beach group with my friends at school. She was like, 'Sophia, none of your friends who are like 11 years old are going to go to the beach with you on a Saturday and pick up trash.'" Maybe friends didn’t want to help out back then, but Sophia has found new ways to encourage others to help. She started a crowdrise page at www.crowdrise.com/sophiabush. (Crowdrise is a site created by Edward Norton that allows anyone to champion a cause and encourage others to be involved and donate.) And Sophia’s been putting in time with her charities as well. She spent time just this summer in Louisiana working with the gulf spill and now she’s running a marathon in November to raise more money. Sophia knows there’s truth to the old cliché – ‘walk the walk before you talk the talk’. Step 4: Promote Global Awareness
Once upon a time, the only real way to make a difference was to do it at the local level and hopefully you’d hear about someone else doing the same thing in their community. Today though, technology has made it possible to create global passions and awareness. Sophia has been taking full advantage of the opportunities provided through online media. For a girl who values her privacy, this is a big step, something Sophia shared in her blog, “I’ve taken a leap of faith recently. I’ve jumped. And it was scary to begin, but it has been so rewarding. I have opened up my life because I could no longer bear to be silent. I started to tweet, and then to rally.” Sophia’s been speaking up in interviews, twittering daily, interacting with fans on Crowdrise and posting on her blog, www.sophiabush.com. She’s “not sure how I feel about this type of social media, this type of access. But I finally realized that there are things that we can all share that are founded on something good”. It’s been paying off too because Sophia is becoming known for her activism by more than just fans of “One Tree Hill”. Step 5: Bring Others on Board
The final step to changing the world is to get others to join in. Don’t think you’re one lone voice can’t make a difference either. Sophia’s one voice joined with Ian Somerhalder to raise money for the gulf. Years agao, one man sent letters to free journalists held hostage and got so many people to join in that his one letter ended up launching a cause that would become Amnesty International. Sophia’s been hard at work providing incentives to get involved. A $28 donation (Sophia’s age) on her Crowdrise page will get you a personally autographed picture. She’s asked fans to “stop sending paper fan mail. Start making a difference. Whatever you would spend, pay it forward to donate.” She’s not denying fans the chance to talk to her though. “Post a message on my page. I will see your words. And I will smile. And we will waste no paper. We will raise money for people who need it.” Sophia is running a marathon, something she hates, to raise money and she’s encouraged others to join her. So for Sophia has raised nearly $25,000 through her crowdrise page in just a few months. Just imagine what can still be accomplished!
In season 4 of “One Tree Hill”, Chad Michael Murray’s character Lucas wrote down his thoughts about Brooke Davis. “Brooke Davis is going to change the world someday, and I’m not sure she even knows it.” Sophia is just like the Brooke that Lucas spoke of except for two differences. She’s changing the world today and she knows it. Really, changing the world is simple. Sophia knows you start with one little voice and join together. But maybe I should let her tell you how to change the world.
“Lady Gaga calls her fans her ‘Little Monsters’. Well you are my ‘Little Voices’. You are each a voice, a movement, a power unto yourself. And as we love, talk, share, grow, and educate one another, you take your new ideas and opinions and share them with the world. And our voice gets louder. Our power grows. And from it comes our new positivity. I confronted my fears about opening up to all of you, and look what’s happened! You have proven to me that we can stand united, and we can change the world. All of our Little Voices have begun to add up, and we are making noise! People are taking notice. And people are changing their worlds.”
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