Catching Up With Emiliano and Tyler
You might recognize Emiliano and Tyler as the September 2021 Match of the Month and Hispanic Heritage Month match feature. If you missed it, you can find that blog post here.
This Hispanic Heritage Month, we caught up with Emiliano and Tyler to see how the duo is doing.
HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH
Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated September 15th-October 15th. During this month, we celebrate the rich history and contributions of Hispanic and Latin American communities, including thousands of Bigs and Littles in our program nationwide.
Emiliano immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico City when he was 4 years old. Tyler is a quarter Hispanic and committed to gaining a better understanding of Hispanic culture.
Matched in August 2021, Emiliano and Tyler have continued to meet nearly every other week. Tyler became a dad in July and the match took the month off, but picked up where they left off in August.
Year One
“Emiliano has opened up so much since we first met,” Tyler shares. “He’s super great and so funny.” When asked what some highlights from their first year together have been, Tyler explains that seeing Emiliano work hard to increase his GPA and get caught up on his homework have been points of pride. He laughs, explaining, “He’s so much smarter than me!”
Emiliano, who started 11th grade this school year, is very interested in robotics. The pair has been talking about college a lot recently as Emiliano prepares for life after high school. They work hard together to focus on Emiliano’s academics because he wants to major in mechanical engineering. “I like that Tyler and I have similar interests,” Emiliano offers. “We both like learning about World War II and history … He’s really supportive and cool.”
Goal Accomplished
Big Brothers Big Sisters asks its matches to define goals they would like to accomplish as part of their match. When the match first met, they set a goal to explore hobbies. (Read all of their year 1 goals here.) Since they began meeting, they have spent time golfing and building model tanks together. They also love catching new Marvel movies, eating, spending time outside, and trying new things.
No End In Sight
Studies show that when matches are paired for less than a year it can negatively impact the youth involved. Because of this, all incoming matches are asked to commit to being paired for at least a year.
For Tyler and Emiliano, there’s no end in sight. This duo plans on being lifelong friends, even beyond their time with Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Congratulations on an impactful first year together, Emiliano and Tyler! We are thrilled to continue to support your match, and can’t wait to hear what your second year together brings.
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