David was matched with his “Little” Tahjier in September of 2020 in the virtual mentoring program due to COVID, and they have been together since then. His teacher believed that having a Big Brother could help him improve his social skills and have a positive impact in his life.
When they were first matched, Tahjier was in the 1st grade, and David was a freshman at HPU.
David was always consistent in his weekly video call with Tahjier. He would call him every
Thursday. Tahjier’s mom said that he was always looking forward to that phone call. Now,
Tahjier is in the 4th grade, and David is a senior student at HPU with a finance major and
a sales minor.
Since September of 2021 until now David and Tahjier transitioned to our in person sports buddies site-based program during after school hrs. They have enjoyed playing sports like football, basketball, baseball, and attend HPU basketball games. Other activities they do is playing board games and racing each other. One of their favorite memories has been attending to the HPU Basketball game, and going Christmas shopping to Target. David has always been energetic, talkative, consistent and friendly. This has allowed Tahjier to feel close to his Big. Tahjier said he loves spending time with David. Tahjier’s mom mentioned that he can see the positive influence that David has in Tahjier’s life, and that is great he has a male role model. When David was asked what it means to me a mentor for Tahjier, he said “becoming a mentor has opened my eyes to so many new things and allowed me to make a connection I never knew was possible. I absolutely love every second I spend with Tahjier, and is always the highlight of my week. I am truly lucky to be able to call Tahjier my now and forever Little bro!”