Luther's Big Brother Big Sister Program

At the the beginning of the school year, the various clubs at Luther all gathered in the library lawn and had sign up tables.  I signed up for a few fun clubs including the outdoor club (BWP) and the PALS program which is like Luther's version of Big Brother Big Sister or other similar one on one mentoring programs.  Both groups have been fun but especially PALS.  I got paired up with an awesome 7 year old boy from a nearby town.  There has been only one organized PALS even so far this year and this was also where I first met my pal.  Right away we connected which was really cool.  We are both quite high energy and enjoy being active so we were to have a fun time and get to know each other fairly easily.  I had so much fun that I told my pal's parents that i would be willing to hang out with him more often than just the times that had been set up by the Luther students who organized PALS.  This past Sunday I went out to eat with my pal and his parents which was a fun way to get to know his family and a little more about him.  After this, my pal went for a little bike ride from campus to Dunning Springs and hiked around for a while.  He was quite intrigued by the size of the waterfall and the other natural features that make this environment so interesting.  We spotted birds and looked at big trees and dreamed about how cool it would to just put a couch in the stream and relax there on a hot summer day.  After this, we biked back to my dorm room and he showed me an awesome website where we were able to create our own super hero.  I thought this was pretty cool even though I am almost 20 years old (which is really weird to think about because in many ways I still feel like a kid or at least a teenager).  My pal is a perfect example of what there is to learn from and admire about children.  They have an intense joy for life, a natural curiosity, excess energy, and pure enthusiasm.  I feel like all of these are extremely positive attributes that all of us should strive for and hope that by hanging out with my pal more some of this will rub off on me and increase my already energetic, jovial, and curious personality.  I am supposed to be a role model for my pal but he may be a better role model for me.  I encourage everyone to seek opportunities like this PALS program and get involved because they can be extremely rewarding for all who are involved.