Written by Matthew, Little Brother to Andrew since June 2016

Just four years ago, Andrew and I had our first outing. We went to play basketball and he took me to South Coast Plaza to buy a tie because the very next day, I had freshman orientation.

It’s crazy to think that four years have gone by so fast. Andrew has been an absolutely amazing leader to me and he’s shown me what it means to be an amazing person—on the court and off the court.

Not only has he taught me how to be a leader but how to care about other people and how to talk to other individuals. Andrew has been one of the best leaders that I’ve ever had in my life and one of the best people I’ve ever had to look to as a mentor. He has shown me what to do during school and how to handle certain situations, but also how it is in the real world and what it means to care for your family, to provide and be able to share with anyone around you such as family, friends and anyone dear to you.

I want to give a huge thank you to Andrew for always sticking by my side and always having my back no matter what. From freshman orientation to Andrew being there at my senior night for basketball, I know every single day of these past four years, I had Andrew by my side. There were days where I wasn’t feeling like myself and he said, ‘Just give me a call and we can talk.’

Once, we had gone to Starbucks and we walked around for about 2 and a half hours just talking about life and that was one of the best moments I’ve ever had with Andrew. He’s been an absolute great mentor to me and I cannot thank Andrew enough.

Last of all, I want to thank Big Brothers Big Sisters for helping me out so much. Ultimately, I can’t wait to be a Big Brother someday.