Big Sister Mona Yarnall with her "Little" Onyea, celebrating three years of friendship.
Story last updated at 1/6/2010 - 12:10 pm
My name is Mona Yarnall and I have been a "Big" with Onyea for over three and a half years. My journey to becoming a Big was through a partnership between Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Information Technology department at the University of Alaska Southeast. The director of my department signed a partnership agreement, which encouraged our staff to participate in the program. As the liaison for our department and Big Brothers Big Sisters, I felt this draw to participate, particularly if I was going to help promote the program.
I was apprehensive about participating and it felt that it would be huge responsibility to be a Big. I discovered there was an incredible staff willing to answer questions and easing my concerns. Onyea and I were matched in the school program where we met once a week for 45 minutes on school grounds. We read. We played tennis. I got to eat lunch in the classroom as a guest at Onyea's desk. We made paper airplanes and devised our own little competition to see whose plane was better. And I lost. After about a year meeting at school, we both agreed it would be nice to spend even more time together. So we transitioned to the regular program... and the fun grew from there.
We are no longer constrained by a time limit on school time. We spend hours at a time together. Things we've done include hiking, some rock climbing, and eating. We've camped, baked chocolate chip cookies, and we've eaten some more. We've gone to plays and concerts, and then we've eaten. We've gone bird watching with the Audubon Society, and in any excursion, stopping for a bubble tea or eating somehow always works its way into our visits.
It has been so much fun watching Onyea grow from a cute little third grader to a beautiful young lady in the seventh grade who is easygoing, loves to laugh, is playful, compassionate, is incredibly resilient and like me, loves to eat.
I don't know exactly what impact I have had in Onyea's life and I don't worry about it.
I just know I love spending time with Onyea, no matter what we do. She has given me so much. I have an opportunity to share with a friend and to enjoy our time together. I love listening to Onyea talk about her future and her dream to go off to college to study art and how she hopes we stay friends for a long, long time. Does it get any better?
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