When I first met Asharia
it was actually after school
it was during the week.
And so I just remembered sitting there
you know, having the time to get to know her
and meeting her mom
her brother. Mom was
pregnant with her baby sister at the time.
It was just, it was a good afternoon,
like actually, we hit it off actually really quickly.
When I first met Shandra,
I...really wasn't sure
of what to expect.
But now that I'm like
she's like in my life
I'm kinda glad that
my mom actually put me back in the program.
And that I actually got to like meet her
because she's like an amazing person.
And like it's
incredible.
I got the choice
thank you Big Brothers Big Sisters
of being able to choose my match
they gave me two options.
And so I specifically picked Asharia
because she was a teenager and I know
teenagers are harder to place.
And then also because she
has diabetes
and I have several family members
who also have diabetes,
plus being a mental health professional
I see kids who have problems controlling diabetes
so I wanted to make sure that she
wasn't left in the mix. So I purposely
picked her, so I was super excited.
When I first started doing
Big Brothers Big Sisters
I was like in a really hard spot with foster care
and like my health.
She has just put me around these amazing people
that just helped me realize like
I want to like be here
and I want to do this
and I want an amazing career
like that she has.
Like for example, I want to go to like
USF for hospitality and business management.
And she has like, let me meet
these amazing people that are in the career.
And I like can't thank her enough for
how much stuff that she has given me
and then the opportunities
that she has just put me through.
What I'm doing now and
the support that I have, it's because of Shandra.
As a Big, I am extremely proud of Asharia.
She has grown so much
I can take her out, she networks really well.
I have taken her to volunteer events with
with actually the Leukemia Lymphoma Society and
she loves it. She has gotten to meet
some of the Tampa Bay personalities
and she does such a great job of networking with them
and just being able to engage.
I'm blessed also just to be a part of the process
and just so extremely proud of her, her mom.
I want to honor her mom also
in this because, you know
she definitely is doing all she can for her and her siblings.
It's just a blessing to have to --
just to get to meet Shandra
and her family and everyone that is around me
that has just helped me.
If I would have never gotten back
into the Big Brothers Big Sisters program
I don't know where I would be right now
like, mentally and physically.
So I'm just happy that she's like, in my life.
I've always wanted to be a part of this organization.
For me, I grew up with mentors
and I know that I wouldn't have become who I am
without having great people
who were important to my life.
So it's something I wanted to do.
And I remember getting the call and it was
at the time that my mom had just
been diagnosed with Non- Hodgkins Lymphoma
and going through that process and I was like
"Is there like...Can I do this?"
Can I not, you know, at the same time
of having this major life event.
But I realized that by doing this,
and you know, giving, you know
to other kids that
it would be able to be helpful for me
and being able to manage that stress
that I was under and
just as much as I have been able
to pour into them
they have poured into me and my family also.