Just finished my interview at the BBBS headquarters. My interviewer was wonderful! The process and questions were really interesting. I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into the meeting. I was ready to fill out paper work and deal with the administrative side of things (references, ID, SS# etc.) but I never expected that I’d actually learn a little about myself. I knew that the questions were going to be introspective, and trying to dig out the ‘real me’, but I was surprised at how well that was accomplished.
At first I had to explain myself from my perspective, my job and my involvement in the community, why I think I would be a good match, and so on. Then they got a little personal and what my childhood was like, how fun was it, what were my trials and tribulations, had I ever suffered from any sort of abuse (verbal, physical, sexual), what is/was my demeanor and my role with and among my friends and family.
What really got interesting was what sort of child I was looking for… I guess I’m not really looking for a specific ‘type’ of child. Something I’m striving for here is to let go of any of my preconceived notions and treat whatever situations I encounter with maturity and tact. I thought that I would take what comes and mold myself to the situation. I’m always surprised by the professionalism of BBBS and how well prepared they are for unprepared, unsuspecting, but interested ‘bigs’ like me. Some of the questions that really made me stop, pause, and think were
“what if the child came from an abusive house hold?”
-Sure I could deal with that, I don’t think that is really what will define the child…
“What if the child comes from a GLBT household?”
– again yes, I don’t think that defines a child and if that particular couple would want me to mentor their child I would be honored.
“What if the child comes from a single parent household?”
– Yes, I think I would but now I was getting afraid that I may be biting off more than I can chew… not necessarily because I have something against broken households but that I don’t really know how to deal with the possible/likely issues that could potentially be involved. With my limited knowledge in this field, I don’t really know what I would do. But wait, I’m not a counselor, I want to be a friend and mentor so should it matter what sort of house they come from.
“What if they child has behavioral issues”
– This is where I decided to draw the line. I’m fine with being a guardian, an adult, maybe even a disciplinarian at some point but I don’t think that’s is my role. I don’t deal with behavioral issues, mostly because I see everything from the top and not to their depths. I look at the surface and say, ‘well just stop doing what your doing and everything will be okay’ rather than looking at the history and reasoning behind such issues.
Of course this is all talking from major inexperience and lack of a psychology like background. I want this to work out for everyone involved and I don’t really know what my boundaries are as far as what sort of issues I can deal with but I think it’s better to take on a light case before I attempt a complicated one. I’m willing to take on whatever BBBS gives me and feel like whatever ‘little’ I am paired with will be somewhat providential…
I’ll keep you posted…
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