Paige is a Big Sister on our programme at Blackburn Central High and has spent the past 6 months in a mentoring relationship with her Little Sister Ruckaya. Unfortunately due to a job move Paige has to step back this month so we asked her to share her journey as even though she has to leave half way through her time with Ruckaya has been awesome.
“Firstly I would like to say how glad I am that I took part in this Big Sister programme and how gutted I am that I will no longer be able to continue my journey.
I learnt so much from the training session that not only helped me develop my little sister, but that also helped my personal development in my day to day life / career. The information around women in the workplace and sexism was an eye opener.
Over the past 6 months I have noticed my little sister grow and become more confident through each session, only small steps and changes such as becoming a little more talkative and asking me more questions, and opening up a little telling me stories about her family and friends. Nothing serious, but it’s just nice to see her become a little more trusting in me and feeling like she can have a little chat and a giggle.
After only the second session my little sister came to me and told me that her teachers at parents evening had mentioned that she has started to become a little more confident in class, speaking up and putting her hand up, after only two sessions! (I must have been doing something right!) I couldn’t believe this and wasn’t expecting her to develop so quickly, it’s an amazing feeling – I’m so proud of her!
The main issue my little sister seems to suffer with is shyness and this is why she is lacking in confidence. In my last session with her I took in some information about shyness and how to combat it and why we can feel shy. She agreed with everything we talked about and said what we read about shyness was her to a T! I felt she went away from that session with more understanding on what shyness is and hopefully she will put into practice some of the things we spoke about to try and combat it and become more confident!
Overall I am so glad I took part in this programme and I have though thoroughly enjoyed the whole process and I am so sad I have had to end my journey so soon. I am going to keep up to date with GOL and your progress and hopefully, if there is anything in the future I can get involved with I will.
Thanks again for this amazing experience, I hope GOL continues to inspire and develop young women so that one day we can rule the world!”
