Girls Supporting Girls: Mentorship in Action

Emily & Aspen at their new Match meeting

New Match meetings are designed to be low-stress introductions for Bigs, Littles, and families – an opportunity to get to know one another, set some goals for their time together, and begin bonding. For Little Sister Aspen, “It was fun!”. For her mom Shennel, “I was excited about getting to finally meet Emily. It was nice. The steps that BBBS takes to find someone that’s compatible with your child is a great part of the program. Emily and Aspen both love their dads; they bond over that. It eased my mind, I was like, ‘I think they’re going to have a good relationship and good connection’.”

Bis Sister Emily remembers Aspen being a little nervous at that first meeting at the BBBS office. “Any child would be nervous to meet someone who they are expected to be friends with. She and I chatted and we started to color. I chose two markers for her and she chose two markers for me. We used those colors to draw a butterfly. So, we chatted and drew butterflies together! We got to know each other. I still have that drawing! It was a nice, lowkey introduction to get to know each other. It put her at ease.”

Aspen & Emily enjoying a CavFutures & UVA Men's Basketball Team event for Matches

From that initial meeting in October 2023 to today, Emily, Aspen, and Shennel have created indelible bonds through open communication, adventurous spirits, and common goals – helping Aspen grow and flourish.

Emily recalls that “our first outing was to see a movie – The Nightmare Before Christmas. Aspen still mentions it as one of her favorite movies. It’s so wonderful that it’s something that stuck with her. To be part of a formative experience with her is awesome, and to see her open up and be more herself. She was never really shy, but I wanted her to be super comfortable. So, it was a really rewarding experience, those first three months of getting her to open up.”

“I like having a Big Sister because I can talk to her about anything and she doesn’t judge” shares Aspen. In terms of Emily’s impact on Aspen, Shennel shares that “Aspen had some drama with her friends. Giving Aspen another person to lean on and talk to when those situations come about. I have two other boys, so she is the only girl of the house. Expressing her feelings to Emily and girl gossip, helps her get another perspective on stuff, especially as a pre-teen.”

Emily helps me with “communication, teaching me how to interact with new people. There are multiple things I like about her. I like her personality, she’s energetic, really willing to get up and go places, brave, and respectful.” She encourages me to “be willing to build friendships; don’t judge people on the first vibe of them. Be willing to try new things!”

According to Aspen, “I really like baking with Emily. That’s one of my favorite things that we’ve done. We’ve baked strawberry shortcake cookies and chocolate cookies. We’ve also made sushi.” From Shennel’s perspective, Aspen enjoys  “being able to go out and do other things. Emily bakes, I’m not a good baker. They do that and also Emily has a little dog. Aspen loves dogs. They connect on that level too. They have fun and do other things we don’t do here at home.”

Emily also relishes their time spent together baking. “We like to bake a lot. The most ambitious one was when we made Dubai Chocolate from scratch. We had to go to multiple stores to find the right ingredients and find the mold. It was her idea, telling me ‘I want to make Dubai Chocolate!’ We spent a whole afternoon getting all the ingredients. There was this fried noodle thing that we needed, but we ended up frying our own noodles. We improvised. It turned out really well and she took the chocolate to school and got to brag to her friends. It was nice to see her feeling proud of the thing we made. We do that quite a bit. I think that was the most ambitious thing we made together. I always want to do things that she really enjoys.”

Emily & Aspen at The Big Serve 2024

Part of being adventurous and trying new things together extended to pickleball. When BBBS announced the first annual tournament – The Big Serve – for October 2024, Emily and Aspen were quick to sign up for several clinics hosted by Central Virginia Pickleball and played in the event. They also played in 2025 and look forward to being back out on the court on October 17 for the third annual tournament.

“It’s been super fun!’ shares Emily. “Aspen and I are so bad at pickleball. She would be a little offended with me saying that, but we are so bad. We have a lot of fun though. We also did a clinic at the local indoor pickleball center. Learning to work together and learning the rules with her was fun. We sucked at the game, but we knew the rules really well. Also, being okay with losing. We did badly the first year and she was a little upset. The second time around, our scores improved every game. Seeing growth of her being able to tolerate not winning and seeing the growth of ‘we’re doing better every game’. It was fun. Seeing the other Matches and interacting with other people in the community is also fun.” For Aspen, “I really liked doing it because the first year we didn’t do so good, but we tried again. We didn’t give up. We didn’t do the greatest and we tried again!”

“Aspen is a wonderful person, and it’s been very rewarding being her Big” highlights Emily. “I feel pretty proud of her and I and the way that our Match has grown over the years. From being like nine and now to her being a pre-teen. Growing with her has been fun!”