1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Big Brothers Big Sisters January Debut! - January 3rd, 6:00pm

Episode Date: January 4, 2023

Big Brothers Big Sisters January Debut!-Shawn Ryba, Steve, and Wyatt represent the program and explain what it entails and the positives that come with joining.For more information you can visit, www.bbbslincoln.org.You can also contact though their email, [e-mail], or call [phone]Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the couple Chevrolet GMC Studios. Here is your host, Derek Pearson, brought you by Mary Ellen's Food for the Soul, on 93-7 The Ticket and the Ticketfm.com. Let's get after it. Yes, it's one-on-one. Special edition that we're going to do throughout the month of January because it's Mentor Month, and if you know anything about me, You know anything about the station.

When it comes to mentoring and community, it resonates with me at a high level. So we're going to ask you to pay attention and become involved. You can do so. 402, 464, 5685. That's the Sartre-Hamemann text line to Honda-Lincoln Hotline. If you want to call in and add your two cents, hit me with a what's up on the text line, right? Let me know you're out there and let me know that what we're talking about reaches you because it should. You can see us all on the Sarder Heyman live video stream, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter live.

So you can see what's going on in studio. And you probably should tonight because I want you to meet the people, the special guests that we have in studio tonight. There's a reason. Again, mentoring month. And we've partnered with the folks from Lincoln Big Brother, Big Sister, specifically Sean Raba is here with us. And he is going to take us through, introduce us to Wyatt and Steve. Steve, let them be known, but we'll meet Sean first. And I'll ask Sean, if you would first, happy new year.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for allowing us to amplify the good that you're doing. And in this space, we applaud you. So I want to say thank you for letting us be a part of what you do. Happy New Year to you, Derek. Thank you. And I applaud these two here, but you'll get to meet them very shortly. This is how we want to play into it.

one I want folks to meet you Sean to explain Lincoln Big Brother Big Sister your mission your task your needs all the things that make this thing that you're doing important and then we'll introduce

our big and our little or our big and an almost big we're going to get all into that but we will do that as well Sean how long have you you been with big brother big sister lincoln i will be with big brothers big sisters lincoln for one year on the 17th of this month why were you called to it well i think it all started when i was growing up i was raised in a single parent family my mom thought it might be a good idea to uh get get this

youngster uh matched up with a mentor otherwise he's going to be in trouble and uh she was wise reached out to big brothers big sisters got me matched with with a big and it made a huge impact on my life and when I went to college I became a mentor myself and then whoa look at here now I'm the executive director of the big brothers big sisters here at Lincoln so it it was definitely made an impact on on my life to to say that casually that your mother have the the open mind and the heart awareness to know that this was good for you and that there were people already in place. And then to take on that mission, even while at college, because there's a lot of stuff going on

and a lot of distraction, a lot of what was happening in college that allowed you to stay focused and end up where you are? That's a big question. I guess for me, I guess, I don't know, I had such a great experience. It was just impactful for me to have a big, and I think about the ecosystem of mentors throughout my life. And I would not be probably here if it wasn't for a lot of those folks along the way. So I guess for me, that has a special place in my heart, and I thought, hey, I have the time, I have the resources. I should give back, and I should do the same thing.

I should become a mentor. Who are some of the mentors that when you effort in what you do, who are the mentors that were in your life? Who are those people? Well, I think, first of all, my big, with Big Brothers, Big Sisters. You know, there's a couple family members. I played, I had the privilege of playing in sports growing up, so I had a couple of coaches that changed the trajectory for me, I think.

at a young age. I've had a couple teachers along the way. Why are you shy about shouting them out? Give their names, my goodness, grace is when something good happened, say something good happened. This is, I mean, these people led you because their voice and their seeds are landing here. So let's shout them out. Who are those people?

By name? Yeah. Who are those people? Well, there's one coach that comes to my name. mind. His name was Pat. And he had confidence. He believed in me. And that didn't, I mean, that was just a wonderful, I don't know, it just feels good to have somebody in your corner cheering you on, supporting you, and believing in your abilities. And I think that was, that's one large one for me that really kind of changed. I think it got me to go play. I played a little bit of soccer in college.

So I think if it wouldn't have been for him, who knows where the heck I'd be. I always laugh because my mentors when I grew up are the voice. I use their words. And quite often, like I'll get in a situation and I'll hear my voice using the words of as a man, James Miller. Steve Perry, who was in my hometown, Jim McKinney. There were guys who coached me, who coached a little bit harder, loved me a little louder, and were more consistent, as you said. They were consistently there. As a matter of fact, people whose presence still exist.

So when you talk about coaches and you talk about people that help none of us get to where we get to alone. And as soon as we acknowledge that, that everything becomes easier. Would you please introduce Wyatt and Steve? Well, yeah, I have the privilege of introducing these two fine individuals. With us here is Steve Smith. He is a big. He's a friend, colleague. I've worked with him in my past life.

He also serves on our board of directors. And then we have Mr. Wyatt here. Been paired up with Steve for quite a long time. And I'm... I'm just excited to hear from them why we're here, why we do this thing. I think their stories and their experiences, I think, is why we do this thing. From the text on Jason Chambers says, I love Mentor Month. I'm a board member.

Sean is the man. Thanks for highlighting the amazing work of Big Brother, Big Sister Lincoln. So folks are out there, and I know that they're good people in this space. I mean, part of choosing to live here, work here and settle here was the good people. and over the course of the three years that I've been here, I've been introduced to a bunch of people who love a little bit louder and a little bit harder than most folks, and that's why this works.

That's why when you walked in the door and said, hey, this is the thing we're doing, can you help us? Yeah, I think we can help you, and that's going to be the challenge. Steve, let me ask you. So tell the folks, who are you, where are you from? Yeah, I grew up in a little town of about 159 people up in northeast Nebraska. The name of the town's Rosalie, so that's the Bancroft Rosalie School District.

Maybe you've heard of that eight-man power up there, right? Eight-man football, get it done. And one of my earliest mentors is actually, he was the coach at the time. His name's John Serney. He was a legendary football coach up there, but he also was, he also umpired baseball games in the summer. He also took an interest in me and how to track down a ball in center field, right? But he was probably one of my first mentors. And listening to Sean talk about some of the people who helped bring him up.

I also studied martial arts when I was in high school. We didn't have, you know, big brothers, big sisters in a town of 159. Yeah. So you looked for mentors where you could find them. And I took a, learned martial arts from someone who was from our hometown who moved home to start a business. And he, boy, we'd meet three times a week in the church basement. And he would teach me all kinds of moves and sparring techniques. And I think of that guy, Jim Pape, probably made more.

more of an impact on me, my junior and senior year of high school, when really, you know, could have went either way. What in him lets you identify that he was good for you? Yeah, you know, he just, first of all, he was a black belt and karate. I wanted to be, right? It's a superhero, right? I wanted to be him, right? Because, like, this is in the 80s, right?

Every kid wanted to be Ralph Machio and do the crane move, right? Oh, absolutely. Yeah. So I think he just, you know, his patience that he has. with me and you know at first when I would talk with him I was kind of embarrassed to share a problem with him oh this is not really that big a deal I should be able to figure it out but pretty soon he'd kind of invite me in well you just keep saying what else he often would just say what else and it would just kind of pull

different thoughts out of me that I didn't even know I had it's so funny that I had uh I had a teacher that would always and and and like you're telling me this thing and what does it mean? Why are you telling me what's next? Wyatt, introduce yourself. Who are you? Who are you, Wyatt? Come on.

You a student? Are you in high school? How old are you? I am a junior in high school. I grew up in a town in Kansas called Great Ben, Kansas. I lived there for about three or four years. I moved to Lincoln for another six when I met him through Big Brother and Big Sister. We've been paired for almost six or seven years.

Almost seven. This is our seventh year, yeah. What got you into Big Brother, Big Sister? Honestly, I don't know. I just wanted to have a mentor. And I got paired with him. Was this something in the school, something in the community? How did they find you?

How did you find them? I went to ask my parents and my counselor at Park Middle School. Does it still resonate in your school? Are there other kids that you kind of look at and go, you know what? This might be good for you. Yeah. Right? So you're a recruiter yourself.

You can say to people, you identify young people that might benefit from this. I would say so, yeah. Is there any interest or intrigue that when you mature and grow up in this thing, that you become a big brother? There is a possibility, yes. Right? That you understand now that people are out there who are looking for Wyatt. They just need Wyatt, as he is, to be there and be available to them.

That's pretty special. I was going to say he's mentioned, he's being modest. He's mentioned that before, too, but someday I'd like to be a big, too. So I know that that's knocking around in his head, too. He's being a little modest here. It happens when people, first of all, we understand that when the microphone goes on and that camera's in your face, that people think about it, I remember the first time I was in front of a microphone, and you just go, okay, it's not for everybody.

It's not for everybody. But then the responsibility becomes because, and Wyatt, I'll challenge you with this, there's a younger Wyatt out there. And they need to know that there's something out there for them, that this is out there for them, that you're out there for them. And they may be in your neighborhood, they may be in your school, they may be in your class, they may be an absolute stranger. But what's happening to you now is the love that Steve's putting on you needs to be put on somebody else. And at some point the light will go on, you'll go, it's my job now to love them the way Steve loved me. Is that a fair thing to ask of you? Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think this is it. I mean, again, January's Mentoring Month, and a big part of the. mission and task and what we're trying to do is for the good people who are in this community to rally to rally and often for rallies to happen there has to be a call to arms right here's your here's the mission here's the task and here's why now Sean I'll ask you how much I asked you this

in the old school show but I ask it now for folks who just got in the car how much time is actually required for big how much time is required we ask that matches hang out at least an hour a week four or five hours a month you know whatever works best for them and what's exciting about our community based mentoring program is that the big and the little get to figure out with their own schedules what works best then go out in the evenings weekends holiday whatever whatever it works for them they can get together and and go experience the community together. What is the, the process? So if somebody's sitting at home now listening,

or they're in their car, or they're at work, and they have an hour a week at some point, and it doesn't have to be the same hour each week, right? That's a fair statement. It can be, there's some flexibility. Some flexibility, absolutely. And then they decide, you know what, I want to give this hour to Big Brother, Big Sister here in Lincoln. What should they do? Well, I'll just start by going to our website, and it's BBBSL.org. And there's a quick little inquiry, two or three little questions. You type those type of response and submit it. We're going to have a staff member call probably the next day.

And that's when there's a little bit of an application and an interview that process that that individual would go through. And how long does that process take? Oh, I'd say, I don't know, Steve, you might have to help me out on this. It's probably maybe an hour with the interview. And then there's an orientation, which is maybe another 45 minutes to an hour. Well, I was going to ask. It's probably a couple hours, three hours-ish total for the process. I was going to ask you to take us through the process, right?

What first, what got you to the table? I tell you, you know, it's a process. for want of a better word it was a process my wife and I had been talking about it and this was the the fall of 2015 spring of 2016 and we talked about it on and off like we just need to do something more we need to get more engaged in our community we went to see west more at the lead center and he just got elected governor of maryland by the way amazing speakers you can imagine and he came and he spoke about the power of expectations he said i'll never forget this he's said, children may or may not be the product of their environment, but they certainly are the product

of their expectations. And that just hit me like a thunderbolt. And the next, first of all, the next, as soon as that was over, we, we drove to the bookstore and bought his book and read it and realized how close he was to being, you know, maybe going a different direction in his life. So we met, we made the call. We called up, uh, big brothers, big sisters. My wife. happened to know one of the staff members there, they graciously gave us time. They met us at Cultiva Coffee for coffee, and I think we had some crepes too. But anyway, you know, spent 45 minutes just talking about the ins and outs of it, and then just giving us the straight dope on it, really.

This is what it is. How long did it take? How long did this take? Yeah, so this was probably maybe a month later. They snapped us into an interview, came to our house, talked to us for 45 minutes separately. And, you know, as I was being interviewed by one of the staff members, I'm thinking, this is the moment of truth. This is really where I decide whether I'm going to. Yeah, you can't get a lot of time to escape.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But, you know, it kind of. It's a commitment. Yeah. Well, it dawns on you. Yeah. Right. And they really press you to say, well, what kind of things you think you'll do?

You know, well, what are your interests? And how do you think you'll apply those to a match with a young man or, I guess a young man? And I'm like, well, yeah, I hadn't really thought about that. You know, so they challenged me to think about, you know, put me in that space in my mind of how I would go about that. So then, yeah, there was a 45 minutes. So once we said, yeah, that's great. We went to a 45 minute orientation with more staff members just around a table. Super casual.

It wasn't any kind of oral quiz at the end of it or anything. Right. You know, it was really great. You failed. You absolutely failed. You're out. No. You know, and then within, probably within, you know, they took what, you know, my interests were.

I liked video games, bike riding, and sports. And what do you know? This kid likes video games. Somebody's out there waiting for it. Bike riding and sports. I mean, he even wore his Kansas City Chiefs hoodie here just to make sure he could represent on the sports radio station. Wyatt, what was that first meeting? Like when they first told you, hey, we have a match.

We have somebody. What did you want from him? Like, what did you expect? Nothing in particular. I just knew that we were meeting with a complete stranger. As you can ask him, I was hiding under the table. It was. Right.

So how old were you when you first met? You were 10. 10 years old. And wow. Yep. It could be intimidating. Yep. We came in and he was, they were pointing under the table.

And there are these two little eyes looking up at us. And I'm like, well, hi there. And then you came out, didn't you? Then we had fun. Then we played hungry, hungry hippos. And from there on out, it's been cool. How much was the discussion? How it was, okay, so what do you want to do?

So what do you want to do? Like, how does that conversation happen? Like, did you know in advance what you wanted to do with him? No. Did you know how this was going to work? No. I do have to say one thing, though. He did.

I looked at his application for him, which he filled out himself. You could tell it was written by a young man. And it said, what's the one thing you like to do? and it said, destiny. I'm like, destiny. What is destiny? Well, it turns out it's this video game where you blow up aliens pretty much, right?

You fly around the solar system and blow up him. I won't get into the deep, deep lore of destiny. I'm hooked on that game still. He got me hooked on it, and I still play it. That's the constant thread that in mentoring, it is a thing that happens. And the young people, in this case, the Littles figure out that they have impact on the bigs.

Oh, absolutely. Right? and that they, as much as he puts on who he is on you, that you put who you are on him. And he reaps the benefit. And let it be said that Biggs and this thing reap benefit. We're going to throw it to break. We'll come back.

We'll go into some of the impact and some of the fun things that you've done, the things you've figured out that you share in common, even when you had doubts. This is one-on-one here on 93-7.