Big Sister Leah & Little Sister Amberlynn
Meet Big Sister Leah and Little Sister Amberlynn who have been matched for 9 years!
Leah and Amberlynn first met in November 2015 through our Site-Based School Buddies program before switching to Community-Based in 2017!
School Buddies
Leah and Amberlynn’s sisterhood started 9 years ago in the school library. After looking for something to do with her free time, Leah signed up as a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters. She had a Little for one year before her match closed, but she wanted to start again. As Leah walked into the school library to meet her 3rd-grade Little Sister Amberlynn for the first time, she felt nervous but was reassured once they finally met.
“She had this excited energy that just shone a light towards me. So, I was excited about getting to see her every week,” said Leah.
Amberlynn remembers this first meeting as awkward. Although she was excited, she felt awkward about meeting a strange adult, but that would soon change as these School Buddies grew closer.
Amberlynn and Leah first “clicked” when they realized they both liked reading. Pretty soon they had a tradition and goal. Each lunch, they would read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and, later, A Series of Unfortunate Events, which is a tradition they would keep alive beyond their time in School Buddies. Both artistic and creative, they also enjoyed doing arts and crafts and drawing. On occasion, they would finish their activity early. In this case, they would go outside to recess, times which Leah looks back on fondly:
“She would introduce me to her friends, and it always made me feel so good because everybody would say, ‘This is who you talk about!’ And she would be excited to introduce me. That was always so fun and made me feel good.”
After two school years and one summer of being pen pals, it was time for Little Amberlynn to graduate from School Buddies. But Leah and Amberlynn weren’t ready to say goodbye yet.
“We’d been together a while. It felt like the next step. It just felt right to move on and be able to familiarize with each other better,” said Amberlynn on why they decided to switch to the Community-Based program.
“I feel like School Buddies was a perfect way to be introduced into the Big Brothers Big Sisters community. I felt that doing Community-Based first off would be a little too overwhelming, but the School Buddies was perfect to get introduced to you guys as well as Amber in a simpler but close relationship,” said Leah.
Making the Switch
After moving to Community-Based, Amberlynn and Leah continued the traditions that they had started in School Buddies, such as getting lunch and continuing to read A Series of Unfortunate Events. Amberlynn says that reading together helped her become a more avid reader, at first only doing light reading but then becoming more invested in the material.
“We started reading A Series of Unfortunate Events when she was in elementary school. And then once we transitioned, we continued to read that series,” Leah reminisced. “My favorite was when we went to Coney Island and got something to eat. And then we went over to Promenade Park with our book and sat and read by the river.”
But the two also started new traditions after switching to Community-Based. One of these is going out to lunch at The Spot and attempting to try everything on the menu. They would also go to Match Activities together, including a life-sized Candyland, one of Leah’s favorites from over the years.
“We were able to get to know each other first and then once we transitioned to Community-Based, we were able to kind of stretch our wings and find out different things that we like to do together outside of just the school,” said Leah.
Opening Up
9 years brings many changes in a person. Many of the changes Leah and Amberlynn went through were because of each other.
“There were days that Amberlynn wouldn’t say much, so it was a lot of me trying to get the conversation going and lots of dead silence. Those were, those were hard days,” said Leah. “The days that we got together, and she would just tell me all the things, and we would just get to sit and talk: those are my favorite days because I didn’t quite have to work for it. It was more of a natural day.”
Initially, Amberlynn felt awkward around people, even Leah, before she got to know her. But she credits her Big Sister—who she describes as a warm ball of energy—for teaching her how to be communicative, vocal, and be herself.
“She taught me that it’s okay to open up. Cause I was very shy and reserved, super quiet, and never talked to anyone, so she was like my backbone. She’s just like ‘Go out and be yourself.’ I wanted to become more vocal and more like me,” said Amberlynn who believes she has now become more outspoken and confident in who she is.
Of all the things they’ve done together over 9 years, Amberlynn’s favorite has been just having fun with her and getting to talk, saying, “I think we always have deep conversations. It just kind of happens so naturally that it doesn’t really register until later. Especially when we would go around the town or during our celebrations, we just had fun.”
A BIG Future Ahead
Amberlynn deserves a BIG round of applause for graduating high school in Spring of 2024! Now off towards her big future, she is studying criminal justice on her way to becoming a patrol officer, saying that her main career goal is to help people. Amberlynn looks back on her graduation as one of her favorite moments with her Big, too.
“I think my graduation was like a big one for me. I was gonna invite everyone, and I thought she might have been busy. But the day came, and she showed up,” started Amberlynn.
“And it was a really cool experience to have with her, to see that we’re both moving forward with our lives and still sticking together, even after I’ve graduated and basically aged out of the program.”
Leah is proud of how far her Little has come in finding her goals and aspirations. Amberlynn initially struggled with middle school and the start of high school, but after starting at Anthis, Leah notes that her Little started showing more confidence in her future plans.
“She really started to have different goals, things that she felt that she could accomplish. After welding, she went for criminal justice, and now that’s what she’s pursuing in college,” said Leah.
“But one of my favorite things about my and Amberlynn’s relationship is that as she’s grown up, I’ve gotten to help her with real-life things,” said Leah. When Amberlynn got her driver’s permit, Leah helped her get all the driving hours she needed. One way she did this was by doing a scavenger hunt: giving Amberlynn a prompt and having her drive around town without relying on Maps as much as possible.
Mentorship to Friendship
Over the years, their dynamic has changed as well. Sticking together past School Buddies allowed the two to get to know each other even more, eventually transforming their relationship to what it is today.
“When she was in middle school, she was in band, and her mom invited me to one of the Christmas performances. So, I got to sit with her family and then see the performance. That was really cool,” said Leah. “I think that was one of the first times I was kind of introduced to the family. I talked to her mom over the phone, but that was one of the first times I was in a family environment with her, and that was really special.”
“I feel that we’ve kind of moved from a mentor-mentee relationship to being friends,” Leah continued. “Instead of, ‘Hey let’s get together cause this is what we’re supposed to do,’ It’s ‘Hey, let’s get together cause we want to.’”
Amberlynn, now grown, feels very thankful for her Big Sister, even trying to buy Leah lunch to repay her for all these years. When asked if she had to say to her Big Sister, she had nothing but gratitude.
“Thank you for always being there. I know I’m still a little awkward sometimes. Just, thank you… She’s amazing. I couldn’t have asked for anyone else better to be paired with,” Amberlynn said.
Having Each Other’s Back
When asked what her favorite part of having a Big Sister is, Amberlynn said, “It’s having someone I can talk to, experience new things with, and make plans with, like one of our plans coming up is going sky diving. We’re planning on me, her, and my mom going altogether.”
For Leah, her favorite part of having a Little Sister has been how it gives her freedom to do things she hasn’t since she was a kid and take her mind off of the hard parts of life:
“I found that I could be a kid again. We got to do the fun kid stuff together, and it just took me back to being young and doing fun things, not just all the real-life hard stuff. She let me express myself, as well as her express herself, and we were able to have fun with all different things.”
She also says that her friendship with Amberlynn has helped her through tough times.
“I remember one Christmas I was just really struggling with my mental health, and we got together and did the Festival of Gingerbread and then the Fantasy of Lights. And I got home that day and I just felt happy and whole again, and she just really helped me get through that,” Leah shared.
These two don’t see themselves parting ways anytime soon, regardless of being in the program:
“I hope she does know how much she means to me and how much I’ve loved our years so far, and that I can still be a part of her life as she’s a part of mine. And, she’ll always be my Little Sister,” said Leah.
“She’s always been my backbone. If I had a question, I’d go to her. She’s been a constant. She is always there as my backbone,” shared Amberlynn.
Be Big!
You could be a part of something BIG too! A mentorship could be just what you need to add more fulfillment and joy to your life. Take it from Leah and Amberlynn:
“I felt that with both of my matches, even as small as the one year with my first match versus the nine years with Amberlynn, there’s just that connection I don’t think you get from your everyday relationships,” started Leah.
“I would say that becoming a Big has been the best way to spend my free time, just the fun that we have, whether it’s something that we chose to do together or any of the Match Activities. It’s just a fun way to spend time with somebody and then to have an impact on somebody else’s life is just the bigger bonus!”
From a Little’s perspective, Amberlynn recommends this program to any other young people who may be hesitant about participating:
“Do it! It’s like a life-changing thing. Even if you get older and you don’t think can do it, just do it. It’s something that sticks with you even as you become an adult and grow. It’s like always having someone there for you, like a best friend and big sister or big brother in one.”
Wanting to make a difference? Learn more about volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters here. Wanting to take the next step? Start the application process here.
