Kristen was matched with her “Little” Tori in November 2019 in the site based mentoring
program. When they were first matched, Tori was in second grade, and Kristen was a
Junior at HPU. Now, Tori is in 4 th grade, and Kristen is a graduate student at HPU.
Tori was referred by her 2 nd grade teacher because she was shy and did not have
friends in school. Her teacher thought having a Big Sister could help her overcome her
shyness.
Kristen had a great attitude from the very beginning, she was talkative, friendly and this
allowed Tori to open up to her and be talkative.
Some of the activities Tori and her Big Kristen have done together in school prior to
COVID were making friendship bracelets, playing board games such as Sorry,
Headbands, Memory, Connect 4, and playing outside. During COVID they stayed in
touch via FaceTime and phone calls. Kristen would call Tori on a consistent basis for
over a year. Then this Fall semester they had the opportunity to join Big Brothers Big
Sisters’ new after school programs. They have played at a local park, played board
games, played on the swings, football, and played with other Littles and Bigs in our
program.
Kristen has always demonstrated accountability, a great attitude, and initiative. Thanks
to Kristen, Tori has improved her confidence and her social skills. Tori said that every
time she sees her Big Kristen, she feels happy and excited. She always looks forward to
seeing her. Tori said her favorite aspect about Kristen is that she makes her happy and
she makes her laugh.
Kristen said that she feels closer to Tori because she was able to talk to her every week
over the past year on the phone, and that helped their relationship grow. Kristen shared
that her favorite aspect about Tori is how outgoing she is now. She said “she is not
afraid to speak up and has one of the biggest hearts.”
Despite Kristen’s busy schedule, she has done a great job balancing her time of being a
full time graduate student, and setting aside one hour every week to spend time with
Tori.