I have just recently become a big sister and to clarify no, not biologically.
I have been spending time with my little sister for the past four/five months. We started out with the in school mentorship program, which consisted of 30-45 minutes hanging out at her school.
Just before Christmas I got a wonderful surprise when Amy Hogemann called me into her office and said that my mentee wants me to be her big sister.
I had my own reservations about becoming a big.
It was nothing to do with my little and everything to do with myself. I did not want to fail at this. I would not just be letting myself down but I would be letting down a very sweet, very special little girl.
Well I want to tell you that becoming a big sister was not as scary as I thought it would be.
I was excited but I was also nervous and worried.
I questioned if I could make that big of a commitment. Whether I would have enough time.
But being a big sister or a big brother is not about the quantity of time you spend with your little, it is about the quality of time you spend with your little.
Spending time with her does not consist of huge things. It is not big gestures or fancy gifts.
With my little, the little things like remembering she plays the flute, our continuous games of Monopoly during her lunch hour, or discussing the Hunger Games are things I consider easy little things, and yet they mean so much to her. They are fulfilling ways to make her day.
However, the effect that this creates is farther reaching than that.
No matter how much time I spend with my little, I may never know the full impact that I will have on her.
I never know how to respond when her mom calls me awesome.
To me, it is not some gargantuan display of awesomeness.
I never feel like I am going out of my way to be this “awesome” person. I do not even feel that awesome most of the time. But I am awesome to my little and that is all that matters.
I am a big fan of the Broadway musical Hamilton right now and one line really sums up what we, as mentors and bigs, are trying to do here in Humboldt.
“What is a legacy? It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.”
That is what mentorship is. That is what being a big is.
We may see some buds start to pop out of the ground from the seeds we plant with our time, our commitment, our advice, our care, and our attention.
But that bud will turn into fruits and flowers. We may never see how beautiful they are but they will be there making the world a brighter and more beautiful place.
So many people put their time and effort into making last week’s Bowl for Kids Sake a success, especially Kemway Lanes for always being there for Big Brothers Big Sisters, all the bowlers who are having some fun and helping to support bigs, littles and mentors all over Humboldt.
However, none of it could have happened without Amy Hogemann and Stacey Poss.
Without them, littles around Humboldt would be without support and mentorship and mentors and bigs would not have the support to make a difference and care they provide.
