Personal Narrative: Big Brothers Big Sisters Program

Big Brothers Big Sisters is a program offered in a number of communities nationwide. The program allows an adult volunteer “Big” and a child “Little” to form a bond. When these relationships are developed, they are meant to have a “direct and lasting effect on the lives of the young children that are involved”. The goal of this program is to allow the children that are participating to know that they have the ability to succeed and thrive. The adults in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program provide the children (aged 6-18) with a “strong, enduring, and professionally supported one-to-one relationship. It is important for these children to have

The purpose of this project is to increase the number of bigs involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters; As a group we are aiming towards getting at least six new members to join through gateway sessions. By working with the gateway professors and the gateway program, we are not only able to gain members for Big Brothers Big Sisters but also allow students from the Bryant campus to get involved. This will mutually benefit both Bryant and the non-profit organization without spending a lot of money. Big Brothers Big Sisters has expressed that their goal through this project would be to gain around six members and to expand awareness about their organization. To make sure everything in this project goes smoothly, we will hold our group members to high standards. Proper communication with gateway professors and Big Brothers Big Sisters is essential to our success. Teamwork and organization will be a key factor, which is why meetings and assignments will be held to a strict schedule. We will measure our success by number of new organization members, high attendance, 100% work completion 24 hours before due dates, and progress report meeting once a week. To institute these measures, we will follow a systematic process according to deadlines set by the

Little by little, children finish their meals and get ready for naptime. The children dump the remainder of their milk in the same sink where they wash their hands. Slowly children go lie down on their own. One of the TSS’s turns off the lights on that side of the room. Kayla puts on a rest time cd and goes to start cleaning up the kitchen. I ask what kind of music is playing but Kayla is not sure. Alyssa gets blankets for any children who need them. Kayla tells her the children only get their blanket if they are settled down. Seeing the children start to fall asleep I get ready to leave. Saying goodbye to Kayla and Alyssa, thanking them for their time.

In August of 2008, I went to Eureka Community Nursery School. The very first day of school for me, now it would be as easy as counting to three.

National Honors Society is an amazing opportunity to be chosen for. By being accepted, it shows that the hard work that I have done in the classroom, and in the community have done well for not only the community but for myself as a person. Since I have started High-school, I have done many volunteer hours at my church. I have done many things such as help lead game-time for the little ones during a learning program called Awana. Awana is a program done by some churches to help raise children to love and serve God. I also help most Sundays in the sound room at church. I help to run the sound and the computer that displays the songs that we are doing that particular Sunday. I enjoy doing these things because seeing the children’s faces, enjoying

As a child, growing up was synonymous with height. And that meant being tall enough for the Twizzler-level rides at Hershey Park. Each visit, I carried my platform flip-flops, ready to slip on at the measuring station. Crossing my fingers that today was the day, or at least the day I could convince them my tiny body was ready to take on the twelve most daunting rides at the park.

2006- Joining Focus children organization – This was the first nonprofit organization that I ever joined. It dealt with handicap kids in developing countries. I believe that I became sensitive to co-cultures that exist in our world. It made me realize how hard it is for others to try and live and adapt to the dominant culture.

People always tell me I’m lucky. I am blessed with parents who advocate for me to receive the best in life regardless of their financial setback. So, in the fourth grade my parents greatly encouraged me to apply for The Steppingstone Foundation, a program that prepares urban students in Boston for admission to independent, catholic, and public exam schools. After Steppingstone, I applied for seven private schools and was only admitted into one, Newton Country Day School. It was intimidating at first; an all girls, independent, catholic school in Newton. Honestly, I had no idea what I was getting myself into and I had a rough time fitting in with all the other girls.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is a national organization that works by connecting children in need with viable mentors. The core working philosophy of Big Brothers Big Sisters is based on making one to one relationship between adult volunteers (“Bigs”) and children (“Little”). Bigs may help littles with their school work, or teach them new skills such as cooking, cleaning, swimming, fishing, vehicle maintenance, or anything they can think of valuable. They may also offer a sympathetic ear or an ally when the little feels alone. But the most important thing is bigs must be reliable and committed to the highest ethical standards in practices. Many littles have already experienced abandonment of various types in their lives. So the role model should be the big who can break that cycle of abandonment and be a steady source of companionship in their

The Junior Civitans Club is a community service organization that I have been a member of throughout my high school career. I participated in three Relay for Life walks for life, and helped to raise hundreds of dollars for the Relay for Life cancer research campaign. In my Sophomore and Junior years, I was elected to be on the Leadership committee as a Representative and later a Secretary. This year, I was elected President of the club and preside over all meetings and service projects. The Greenwood High School chapter of Junior Civitans “adopted” a girl’s cottage at the Connie Maxwell Children’s Home this school year. The Connie Maxwell Children’s home provides residential children’s ministry to abused, abandoned, and neglected children.

The agency that I visited for my placement is called Positive Change Academy. This academy is located in Wilmington Delaware. Wilmington Delaware is a city where about 17,000 of its residents are living below the poverty level. Positive Change is an alternative school for children in 1st through 8th grade. Children are enrolled in this school usually due to behavioral issues. The goal is to equip the children with the appropriate resources to help reintegrate them all back into public, or private schooling systems. I had the pleasure of interviewing with Mr. Miller: Director of Education. Mr. Miller stated that he is basically the assistant principal at the school.

In Q2, I visited stores with Kristoffer Anderson, in Dristict 5. We focused on stores on the 59 Highway (328, 359 and 107). These visits focused on Associate Communications. I got to gauge how stores are utilizing their breakrooms and training facilities. After this visit, I was ablet to channel my communications correctly. I also learned that stores were not readint the Communications newsletter on the monthly basis.

It has come to my knowledge that in order to join cross country I would need to go to the summer program. Due to being in summer school for Geometry(for two semesters), and my mother wanting to get the most out of the summer athletics program signed me up for tennis. This was due to tennis despite being right after summer school was in a time zone that I could attend, on the other hand cross country was held in the later half of the summer a time that my family dedicated for a mix of vacations and christian camps; and because of the various events would make it so I couldn't come to a good portion of the cross country program, making it the worse of two choices. However, because I am now unable to go to the summer program I was hoping if I

In June 2015, I ventured across Canada for the Encounters with Canada Program, along with my friends Luke and Edward. The program involved touring Ottawa with a group of young adults, seeing the various attractions and making friends along the way. Being a shy and occasionally introverted individual, who often had trouble fitting into new schools, I was nervous going into the flight. However, having two friends with me opened me up to new people, as I would rarely approach anyone myself. Soon after arriving, Luke and I took to playing ping-pong, and Edward started a conversation with our peers. Curious, I found myself drawn into the conversation, and eventually I was talking openly with others in our group, whereas unescorted, would have been

When I was in grade school, was a part of Big Brothers Big Sisters, I was a little and then in high school, I decided to be a big. This program is used to help 8th grade and younger children and teenagers have a mentor from the high school. A student would use their scheduled class times as Big Brothers Big Sisters, this was a credit for them and was graded class. The student from high school had to be a junior or senior to be a big sister or big brother. They then would drive or walk over to their little’s school and sit with them for the 40-45 minutes of time they had to spare. They would spend time with their little, and try to mentor them if the little would let them.