Akshay and Reu-Shawn We're happy to introduce one of our amazing community matches: Akshay and Reu-Shawn! Akshay and Reu-Shawn were matched in May and things are off to a great start with these two! They are part of our Community-Based Mentoring Program which means they are able to go out and about within the community to do all sorts of activities. Akshay works in the healthcare field and is able to interact with kids and families each week but it's only for a short time. He decided he was ready to make a difference in a child's life in a more lasting and meaningful way. Akshay said, "I know I have benefited from role models and people looking out for me, and it was my turn to pay it forward." Reu-Shawn is an only child and wanted someone to hang out with as well as an older male role model. Read below for some questions we asked this dynamic duo! What is your favorite activity to do together? Probably bowling. I don’t think either one of us are really that good; in fact, we probably can’t even count the number of gutter balls we have collectively bowled. But we have been known to get ice cream after so who can argue with that! Are you working towards any goals together? We are working on being more open about thoughts and feelings as a guy. What is your favorite memory together? We spent a day at the Worcester Art Museum. We are both museum nerds at heart and had a fun time exploring the historical pieces they have. Reu-Shawn even got to try on some of the medieval armor! What are you looking forward to experiencing together. We are both really interested in the sciences, so we are going to do a ‘science day’ between the Ecotarium and some medical simulations at UMass. Have you learned anything from each other that you’d like to share? That even if it’s hard to spend physical time together some weeks; even just a text or call can make a difference. We check in a lot of ways and that helps us better communicate and keep up with each other’s busy lives. | |
