hen Arisha Butterfield, 11, heard the first line of the winning Big Sister of the Year essay read out at a special Big Brothers and Big Sisters organisation luncheon, she knew it was hers right away.

?My Big Sister should be Big Sister of the Year 2006 because she is kind and loving to me,? Arisha wrote of her Big Sister, Susan Pateras.

Arisha is a student at Clearwater Middle School, and Miss Pateras works in the reinsurance industry. They have been together for about three years.

?I was kind of surprised that I won the competition,? said Arisha. ?As soon as they read the first line, I knew it was my essay.?

Miss Pateras said she was very emotional when Arisha?s essay was read out.

?I feel honoured,? said Miss Pateras. ?You go along and you do things and you really don?t know how much of an impact it has made because you are just being who you are. So, for me it was really emotional.

?One of the reasons I was excited was because her letter was so well done. I was very proud of her. I love to write, and I always encourage her. I give her journals and pens and pencils. Writing is important not just for her vocabulary, but also it helps her put her thoughts down.?

Miss Pateras said if Arisha choose to share what she wrote in her diary with either her Big Sister or her mother, then it helped the grown-ups to figure out what she was thinking and feeling.?

She decided to become a Big Sister when she moved to Bermuda from the United States. She is originally from New York.

?I was familiar with the programme in the United States,? she said. ?Big Brothers and Big Sisters has a very good reputation and a good name. It is a large organisation. I was looking for a way to get connected in the community. I wanted to give back a little bit and meet some interesting people who would have different desires, needs, and wants that I had. I called the organisation and went through the process which was quite lengthy.?

There is a thorough background check to weed out people with a criminal past and an application process to become a Big Sister or Big Brother.

?The first time we met I talked about what my hobbies are, where I like to go and what type of outings I like to go on,? said Arisha. ?Yes, I was excited to find out I was going to get a Big Sister.?

Arisha?s mother, DonnaMaie Butterfield, said Arisha?s brother had a Big Brother first. Then she was encouraged to enrol Arisha also.

?They said it would be good for her,? said Ms Butterfield. ?That is how it started. It wasn?t long before she got a Big Sister. I know the wait is longer for boys to get a Big Brother.?

In her essay, Arisha wrote, ?We have lots of fun together, and she makes me feel very comfortable when I am with her. My Big Sister is always concerned about how I am making out in school, and at home. One cannot help but love her.?

Not only has Miss Pateras developed a strong relationship with Arisha, but also with Arisha?s mother.

?I talk to her about girly stuff,? said Mrs. Butterfield. ?We are basically like a family. She comes to our house, and we go to hers.?

Mrs. Butterfield said that having a Big Sister has been very positive for Arisha, and has helped to bring her out of her shell.

?At eight years old she was really quiet,? said Mrs. Butterfield. ?She is not really a talker, but I can see little changes in her. She is definitely getting more confident. She has really matured. I?m not sure if it is because she is just at that stage, but Susan has really played a big role in her life, and I think vice versa. I think they are a really good match - although my daughter is taller than her. It has really been good for all of us.?

Miss Pateras said having a Little Sister has helped her connect more with the next generation of kids.

?It makes you humble to understand other people?s struggles, fears and dreams,? she said. ?It is very different to be a kid today from when I was a kid, even though I am still young.

?What her and her brother deal with here in Bermuda is different from what I dealt with in the United States.?

She said other people considering joining the programme to ?definitely look into it?.

?There is a need,? she said. ?It is not only a programme where you are giving of your time, you also gain a lot. Kids make you really humble. They are brutally honest.

?I talk to her and her brother and there are so many more positive things that they are into than you hear about.?

Arisha is a ?Second Honours? student at Clearwater Middle School, which means she maintains a grade average of between eighty and ninety percent.

?My best subject in school is science,? she said. ?We haven?t done experiments or things like that yet. We are just working on invertebrate animals. I really like animals and I want to be a veterinarian when I grow up.?