by Ramya Naik, CBSBB Mentor
pictured (above right) with her mentee, Luz
I’ve never really put much thought behind mentoring and how much it can affect the youth in our community, it’s likely because I’ve always been fortunate enough to have family members to look up to and guide me. Once I became a big sister at Catholic Big Sisters & Big Brothers (CBSBB) and built a real relationship with my little sister, I started to understand the importance of mentoring. It wasn’t just about seeing each other and sharing laughs, but more about sharing our lives. The moment we began to discuss her dreams, aspirations, and things going on in her life, I started to feel I was making a difference. I also began to realize how much I was learning from her as well; our “partnership” as she would call it has taught me that our youth have more to share than we may think.
My little sister and I come from completely different backgrounds and faiths, and yet we’ve built a really strong relationship in the time we’ve spent together over the past year. I’ve had the opportunity to share some of my culture and parts of my religion with her and have learned about her background as well. I’m Hindu and have always been taught the importance of tolerance and acceptance, and that our faith shouldn’t dictate whether or not we can genuinely create a meaningful bond with another person. My little sister is Christian and this is definitely a value we both share amongst many others.
Growing up during a time when social media was on the rise, I realize that technology and social media have innovatively changed our lives in both positive and negative ways. We have the ability to stay in touch with friends and family from across the world and access information on just about anything. On the other hand, unfortunately, often the things that should be bringing us together are used as ammo to tear us apart. Cyber bullying is on the rise, lack of human interactions and relationships, “fake news” and obsession over being accepted on social media are just a few examples. As a community I believe we have to be better in helping our youth be equipped with the right information and guidance. It’s so important now, more than ever, to focus on new ways to engage in healthy and genuine relationships. Our differences; race, religion and physical appearance shouldn’t be used as a weapon to dehumanize others and foster prejudices and hatred. My little is active on social media during a time where all of these issues are very relevant and can have negative effects on her as she is figuring out who she is and where she feels she fits into the world, which is why it’s so important she have some sort of positive guidance present in her life and I am so proud to be able to say I may be one of those people for her.
Having the opportunity to become a big sister at CBSBB has been such an amazing journey. Sharing my views, beliefs, passions and outlook on life with someone younger has been immensely rewarding. Reflecting back on my time with my little sister, discussing her plans after high school, dreams and goals make me realize the time spent with her has been well worth it.
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This year, CBSBB formally launched their Interfaith Initiative – Through their thoughtful pairing and support of mentoring matches, CBSBB works to not only break down stereotypes and barriers related to bias by fostering relationships between with adults and youths of different faiths, but also proactively strengthen our community by celebrating commonalities and differences and by promoting religious harmony within our community.
The video below, produced by Catholic Big Sisters Big Brothers, highlights CBSBB’s Interfaith, Intergenerational, Newcomers, and World of Work Mentoring Programs and includes a segment with Ramya and Luz.
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