This summer as I was applying to teacher positions I knew that my resume lacked in experience…or at least in the field of children. I was trying to find anything and everything that I could to pad it with more experience. I figured one of the best ways to accomplish this was to volunteer. I worked at the TaeKwonDo kids camp for the latter half of the summer as a volunteer. I also looked at a lot of thing that I could do on the Internet. There is no limit to programs to volunteer for, but I wanted something with children and something that I would enjoy as well as believe in. I didn’t want to volunteer just for the sake of having something to add to my resume; it had to fill other purposes in my life as well. I remembered that Big Brothers Big Sisters was a great organization, and I knew someone that had actually done this with great success. I completed all the necessary steps (paperwork, interviews, volunteer training, etc), and then it became a waiting game. I guess I didn’t wait all that long. I had heard some people say they had been waiting for several months. One day, out of the blue, I get a call from the organization saying that they’ve found me a “little” – a boy. His name is Nathaniel, and he’s 11 years old.

I heard his stats and said that I was interested in meeting him. The next step was for them to contact the family and see if they thought they wanted to meet me to…and they did! It happened quickly, and in less than a week from the first call, I was sitting in Nathaniel’s kitchen talking to him, his dad, and our match support specialist! I liked the kid right away. The first thing that I noticed about him was how considerate and well mannered he was. I liked his dad too. We went out on a short 30 minute outing after we finished going over all the rules and whatnot. I learned that night that Nathaniel had been waiting 4 years for a match! That’s crazy! I only waited like 2 months. Thank goodness I signed up…how long would he have waited.

They told me that Nathaniel was signed up because his dad wanted him to have a female influence in his life. His mom died when he was very young. I think that I can provide this for him. I think I might be someone to look up to. I know I will definitely do my best and will point him in the right direction in life. Nathaniel is probably not the typical kind of kid you think of when you hear about this program. He’s not needy or troubled. In fact he’s just a normal kid. He makes great grades, plays in the band, and is great at video games. But none of that changes the fact that he still has needs that I can fill so I’m glad that I can be there for him. It was on our 2nd outing that I really came to understand that he like any other child could benefit from this kind of relationship. I asked him who his best friend was wanting to know more about his social life, but his answer shocked me when he said you! Me? “I’m not you’re best friend,” I said. He relied, “Yeah, because you’re the only one that takes me places.” I wanted to cry. I WAS important to him. And every time we hang out together I realize that he is gonna make a big difference in my life as well. I can tell now that I’m going to learn a lot from him as he also learns from me. The greatest things I like about Nathaniel are his willingness to help out and his confidence. This kid isn’t shy, and I love that about him because I find that while I’m comfortable talking to people, I’m still shy about a lot of things. But he isn’t, and I want to encourage that part of him.

Not counting our 30 minute outing the night we met, we have been on 3 outings. Our first outing was to Mt. Bonnell and then to see the bats. Our second outing was to attend Austin Museum Day when we visited the botanical gardens, the sculpture gardens, and the Austin Museum of Art. Our third and latest outing was something more simple. I brought him along to see me test for my black belt in TKD. Except for this last outing, I’ve been letting him use my big Nikon camera from college to take pictures of all the stuff we do. And he loves it! Some of his images have really surprised me! He seems to have a natural knack for composition. I’m thinking of doing some outings soon that will allow him to do a photoshoot of some sort.

Here are the pictures from all of our outings:

Outing 1

Outing 2

If you are interested in volunteering for Big Brothers Big Sisters than I can’t encourage you enough! Please let me know if you would like any information or have any questions. I know that they are always looking for men – they never have enough. Also there is a big fundraiser coming up for BBBS, and I would love to form a team to help me raise money which will help get matches made. Some of the things that BBBS also does is give all the children matched for 1 year a college scholarship which many area schools will match. This is huge for a lot of these kids. The scholarships are even good for vocational schools. I would like to make sure that this awesome organization has plenty of funding for this type of things. I need a team so please let me know if you’re interested…there will be bowling!