Big Brothers Big Sisters make a difference in the community

By Ryan, October 1, 2015

By Madeline Travell, Organizations Editor//

Does being away at college make you miss your siblings? If so, Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) is an opportunity to spend time with kids and provide them with a positive experience. Even if you do not have younger siblings and just like to spend time with youngsters, this is a great way to interact and create a positive change within the surrounding community. “I really liked what they stood for and wanted to expand and implement my ideas to create more interest and greater campus involvement,” Erin Sullivan, club leader, said.

Students from High Point University are paired with students in kindergarten through high school from 11 different local sites. The majority of students who participate in the program are in elementary school students. BBBS have specialists who facilitate in matching the pairs, coordinate the scheduling and logistics of visits, and are chaperones for events. BBBS is a yearlong commitment to build a relationship and repertoire between “big” and “little.” Often times the littles become attached to their bigs and look to their bigs for advice and support.

As a minimum, HPU students are required to spend time with their little once a week for an hour, however, “many of us usually see our little more often than that. We make an effort to hang out with our littles because we want to,” Jasmine Williams, club leader, said. The bigs and littles become close and create a bond where “she can talk to me about anything from her family to school or her after school activities,” said Mariana Pereira, a BBBS club member.

HPU’s campus is a great place for the littles because, “they appreciate everything and it makes you appreciate things more too,” said Williams. A field day held for them last semester was a huge success with around 180 people attending. There were games, food, and big/little bonding. Even the HPU ice cream truck made an appearance, which was very exciting for the littles because it was free. “Another favorite memory of mine was Thanksgiving dinner at HPU because many of the littles do not have the opportunity to have a family dinner for the holidays,” said Sullivan. Another holiday inspired event was a showing of the movie Elf in the Extraordinaire Cinema around Christmas time because many of the littles had never seen the movie before.

“One time we had the HPU trolley pick our littles up, and the way they reacted, you would have thought a stretch limousine was there to escort them to their destination,” said Williams about the littles excitement and how sometimes we forget to appreciate the little things. When the littles visit HPU. it is often the first time they have been to a college or university campus. This is a great way to expose them to thinking about their future and about the possibility of attending a college or university. “When our littles visit HPU, they are amazed by the campus and they too want to come here when they get older,” said Williams.

“I have loved working with my little, Heaven,” said Sydnie Schuster, a BBBS club member. “We work on homework problems and educational games together. When I started off in September, she failed most of her classes. By the end of the year, she was getting B’s. It makes me so proud to have made a difference in a child’s life. I encourage more people to join BBBS and make an impact because it is really rewarding,”