Little Brother Isaiah and Big Brother Joe have been matched since July 2013 in the Sports Buddies program. Joe recalls, “The first time I met Isaiah, he was 10 years old and much shorter than me. I can’t say that now. At the age of 17 he’s a bit taller than me now. We met at the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado office to play games and get to know each other. It was so much fun, and I was very happy we got matched. I knew there were times ahead. He kind of reminded me of myself when I was his age.”
Isaiah and Joe love to hang out at Sports Buddies events. Their favorite Sports Buddies events are anything basketball related since basketball is Isaiah’s favorite sport. They have a lot of fun getting competitive with the other matches! They also like to go to Nuggets games together and grab a bite to eat somewhere to watch football on Sundays.
Joe reports that during their time with BBBSC, he’s seen so much growth in Isaiah. Isaiah takes advanced placement classes and is very involved in leadership activities in his school. He’s a great athlete and is growing into a positive young man.
Last summer, Isaiah completed an internship with BOA Technology as part of BBBSC’s Career Possibilities program. This was a great opportunity for him as it exposed him to a career path and it was also his first job. Isaiah helped his coworkers design shoes and gave them feedback on how to enter into new markets. That’s right up Isaiah’s alley. He loves shoes and even got to design his own athletic shoe to keep for himself! He was very excited about the opportunity to learn new things and the internship inspired him to become a mechanical engineer. He also got paid and received a scholarship!
Isaiah shares, “I would definitely recommend the Career Possibilities program to other Littles and the Big Brothers Big Sisters program because they offer a lot of new opportunities. My Big and I have been together for almost nine years and our relationship is great. We hit it off instantly. He can relate to what I am going through. I spend holidays with him, and he is part of the family now.”
Isaiah is graduating from high school this month and he’s very excited about going to college to study mechanical engineering. Isaiah and Joe talk about how an education makes a big difference and opens doors throughout life. Joe sees Isaiah light up a bit when they talk about his future.
To BBBSC’s supporters, Joe says, “Thank you for your generous contribution to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Colorado. My time with Isaiah would not be possible without people like you! We’ve been able to build a relationship and create memories that we both cherish deeply and have a huge impact on our lives.”