Match of the Week: A Personal Letter From AAA Employee Big- Michele

I’d like to start off by thanking AAA and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Detroit for giving me the opportunity to be a mentor. It has truly been an eye opening experience and I am grateful to be part of such an incredible program.

I thought a lot about what I was going to say today because there are so many reasons to love the career buddies program and so much I have learned from my experience as a mentor, but I decided since we have such a short amount of time it would be best to talk about how the program has impacted me personally.

There is an old Chinese proverb that says:

“If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. But if you want happiness for a lifetime, help someone.”

Perhaps the most important lesson we can learn in life is that true happiness is found in the service of others, and that’s a lesson that’s been taught since the beginning of time. I know for me no matter how much I succeed in my career or personal life there is no feeling greater or more gratifying then when I’m helping someone. So when I was given the opportunity to become a mentor I jumped on it. To be honest I did not know what to expect when I first started. If anything I thought it was going to be working on resumes, helping my little apply to colleges, and maybe giving them some advice from time to time, but what I found was it is so much more than just that. It’s about sharing in someone else’s dreams and aspirations, and having them open up to you about their deepest inner most thoughts. It’s about helping them with their problems, and sharing your own life experiences. Most importantly it’s about helping them as well as yourself grow.

When you think about it we as mentors are just as if not more lucky to be part of this program then our littles are. Because to have someone choose to share so much of them self with you is such a remarkable thing that I don’t think it can truly be put into words. You see through this program I have found that in trying to guide someone and make them a better person, I myself became better, and what greater reward is there than that. All I can hope for is that I have had as much of an impact on my littles as they have had on me. So once again I’d like to say thank you to everyone who makes this program possible and I hope you all have a wonderful day.

#AAA #MatchofTheWeek #Big #BBBSMD #CareerBuddies