My name is Jeffrey Martinez and my big brother is Burt Howell. We’ve been brothers for 10 years and plan to graduate the program next year. After the match graduates we still plan to talk because our relationship is important to me.  In the beginning when I first got my Big Brother I was nervous because I didn’t know who he was. I was 7 years old at the time so I didn’t know about Big Brothers. After time passed and he always came to get me I got used to it. At first I felt nervous about growing with my big as an influence. However, Burt focused on me and my needs so I felt comfortable as time went by. After I got to know him, we connected and we still do because the conversations we have are always about my future and that’s what I’m focused on. Over the years I met his family and we got along well. My relationship with Burt changed over the years as I got older because he taught me different ways to deal with different situations and how to grow from every experience. He taught me how to not hold things in when something is going wrong because that can make the situation worse. Talking to him about that helped me a lot. He’s helped me get all my jobs including the one I have now, which I like a lot. We’ve done many different activities like going to museums, on a Duck Tour, to arcades, to Red Sox games and more. I have fun with everything we do because we are always active. Being active makes things much more fun than just going and standing around. One good experience was when we went on the duck tour. I was able to drive the boat since it was my first time on the boat and driving it was challenging because I didn’t know what to expect. But once the driver taught me how to handle the boat I got used to it and started driving by myself.

As a little brother working for BBBSMB I’m able to learn what the staff does for Little and Big Brothers. The most important thing I want to learn is what the organization does to support the Big’s and Little’s and make sure they stay together. Without learning I wouldn’t grow or gain knowledge about life. As I grow with my Big, I mature and create opportunities to do anything I want.
Topics: Bigs Littles Alumni, Mentoring Real Life Stories