My name is Andrea Moreno, and I am currently a Junior at Bryn Mawr. I am majoring in Psychology and minoring in Child and Family Studies. My long term goal is to help families with children who have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder and becoming a family therapist. My short term goal is being able to work with children who do not have easy access to additional opportunities that could provide a helping hand in both academic and social aspects. I have always enjoyed volunteering with children because it has given me joy to see I could make the slightest difference in their minds. I have been part of the Big Sisters Program since last year, when Julien and Inés first started to develop and structure the program. Last semester, I was given the opportunity to study abroad in London and so I was unable to be here on campus. Coming back from abroad, I was given the opportunity again to be part of the program and continue to work with the bright students at Willard.
Thus far, I am been working with Briseyda and Jeilin, who have unique ways of looking at life and wanting to improve their reading and writing skills. On our last session, I had given them a prompt to answer, which was: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Both girls told me that they were not sure what they wanted to be, so I explained to them to think about where they would like to be in the future? What do they see themselves doing? And so, Briseyda told me she wanted to be an artist, to create pieces that were beautiful and unique. Jeilin told me she wanted to explore other places around the world, and that one of her dreams was to go to Los Angeles. When I was thinking about the kinds of answers I was expecting them to give me, I was thinking about future jobs that they would want to have. But instead, they gave me an answer that they found happiness and joy behind, which I thought was an even better way of looking at the question. Both my little sisters help me realize that the small things you enjoy today can continue to be part of your future. I am excited to see the kinds of dreams they develop and want to achieve, both short and long term.
