Alumni
Share your story. Reconnect with old friends. Network with other alumni. Whether you’ve been a mentor or benefited from Big Brothers Big Sisters programs, you’re connected to a much larger group of people than you think. Clicking on the link will open a new window to the Big Brothers Big Sisters Website. If you need some more convincing, read the story below…
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“At first hanging out with John, my little, was a bit awkward but we quickly found that we both liked playing cards and magic tricks and that was more than enough to build upon. Initially, John was to afraid to say what he was interested in or what he would like to do, just in case it would hurt my feelings. I’ve done my best to encourage him to and that our BBBS time was his special time and that it’s ok for us to do things that he would most like to do, important to him and that it’s going to be extremely hard for him to hurt my feelings. Now, every time we meet John asks if we can spend sometime playing cards. It’s the anchor of our visits and it’s our special thing. It also the time when he really lets down his guard and the real John starts to shine.
We have had many adventures along the way. From his seven slice pizza binge at the BBBS picnic, to pumpkin carving, the bucket sized Fruitopia sugar overload at the cinema (despite assurances from his mum that sugar makes him sleepy), taking photo’s in the park, pottery at ‘Fun with mud’ and the one that remains burned in my brain; the time when we came within a foot of knocking out a cyclist with our RC helicopter. Fortunately, for everyone the cyclist remained oblivious to the falling object and his iPod masked the large crashing sound.
Overtime, John has become more open, he has begun to share some of his excitement and disappointments about his daily life. We still have a long way to go. I have come to realize that there’s no need to be cool or need to impress in order to be a Big, unlike in the rest of the world. To be a Big Brother you just need to be there, that’s it. John is just as happy to help me at the Post Office, go for an ‘ice cap’ at Tim Horton’s and play ‘go fish’ as he would anything else. For John it’s about me keeping my word and being there every week.
I wonder who actually gets more out of our visits, me or John. I am very grateful to him for opening my eyes to a different world. To spend time through the eyes of a child is very sobering and there is a new wonderment to things I would otherwise take for granted. My role is to listen but there have been a few occasions when I have found myself getting inwardly frustrated. For example, I wanted to know what some of John’s dreams were, was it to be a race car driver, fireman or even an astronaut! Anything at all that he was interested in, the idea was that we could use this to plan some activities and outings that would expose him to some of these aspirations. I was taken aback that he doesn’t have any yet or any that he wants to share at this time. I was puzzled why this bothered me so much but kids are often like mirrors and I eventually realized that I had lost my own aspirations and dreams for the future. Thankfully this won’t affect our visits, but as a result I will be returning to University and dare to embark on my own dream.
The impact of Big Brothers cannot be underestimated, it has changed our home values, and it even affects my friends. My friend Jane has also been encouraged to go back to school for her dream, James is now starting to consider becoming a Big, Kate is considering whether to start a family – all of this has come about from people asking about what it’s like to be a Big and just by sharing some of the life lessons that being part of BBBS has taught me.
I hope that John will continue to want to hang out over the coming the years and I get the opportunity to see him grow into the amazing person he really is. BBBS has turned my world on its head and I just hope that I will be able to give back to him a fraction of what he has brought to my life.”
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