From Failure to Success, a Special Friendship Makes the Difference

Big Sister Marj comes from Scotland. For her, there’s nothing funny about the way she talks or the words she uses — it’s what she’s done all her life. But the first time she met her new Little Sister Sandra, from Miami, Sandra couldn’t stop smiling and laughing. “I liked her cool accent,” Sandra remembers.

Marj called a bathing suit a “costume.” Instead of “Let’s go see a movie,” she’d say “Let’s go see the picture.” It was fun for Sandra, who had spent most of her life in one place, to meet someone from another country who communicated so differently.

But they soon learned that on the things that really matter, they spoke the same language. Marj’s patient guidance helped Sandra improve her grades in math. And some simple advice from Marj — “take a deep breath and keep your cool” — helped Sandra learn to control her temper and stay out of trouble in school.

Their Friendship Makes Everyday Activities More Fun!

Before meeting Marj, Sandra had never cooked Moroccan-style chicken. Now she has. She had never made a shepherd’s pie … now she has. She had never learned to swim, but now she’s taking lessons and, she says, “I’m getting pretty good.”

It really doesn’t matter what they’re doing — as long as they’re together, you’ll see them smiling. And Sandra loves going to school the day after seeing Marj and telling her friends about all the fun things they did together. “My friends say I have a cool Big Sister,” she says, “and I know I do.”

“Now they all want a Big Sister just like her!”

You can help Big Brothers Big Sisters find matches for young people like Sandra and her friends. Here are two ways you can make a difference!

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