Overcoming Expectations - Jorge, Jason & Michelle

Over the years it would have been easy for Jorge to make excuses for the way his life turned out. His father has been in and out of jail, and has very little contact with him. He lives with his mom, a single working mother of three teenagers. Jorge is the youngest, and oftentimes gets overshadowed by his two older siblings.

At nine years old, Jorge’s mom enrolled him in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. She wanted him to receive a little more one-on-one attention, and have a male role model in his life. In the spring of 2003 he was introduced to Jason and Michelle Kruse, a newly married Big Couple from Olathe. Little did Jorge know, but three years later he would find himself a completely changed person thanks to these two special people.

Before the Match, Jorge’s mom described him as having “very low self-esteem and had a major lack of motivation both at school and outside the classroom.” She contributes the change in her son to Jason and Michelle’s ability to “never let Jorge make excuses.” They have explained to Jorge “that no matter what cards you are dealt in life you must always rise above people’s expectations.” Ever since that day, Jorge has never settled at being average.

Over the last few years, they have all had some fun adventures and surprises. Jason and Michelle will never forget how excited Jorge was when they won first place in the costume contest at the BBBS Halloween party. They went as Frankenstein, Corpse Bride and the Mad Scientist. This event was especially exciting to Jorge because he had never won anything in his entire life. His mom says that he still talks about what an amazing day it was.

In the beginning of the Match, grades were somewhat of a struggle for Jorge. He would come home and show off his “C” report card. He never wanted to study and didn’t think school was that important. Jason and Michelle have taught Jorge that C’s are average, and that he is nowhere close to an average kid. They let him know that awesome, talented kids like him should be getting A’s and B’s. He now, brings his well above average report cards and progress reports over to Jason and Michelle’s house to put on the refrigerator to serve as a constant reminder of how awesome they have helped him become.

Upon the news of hearing that Jason and Michelle were having their first child Maggie, Jorge was a little nervous that they wouldn’t “need” him anymore. He was afraid that once they had a child of their own he wouldn’t get to hang out with them as much. After Maggie was born, he found that the situation couldn’t have been more different. “I love having Maggie around. I still get to hang out with Jason and Michelle all the time. It is kind of like I have a little sister.” This summer Jason and Michelle are expecting their second child and Jorge can’t wait for the little boy to be born so that he can become a “Big Brother.”

Oftentimes Bigs have the expectation that in order to make a difference you have to entertain your Little or spend a lot of money and time on them. Jason and Michelle have shown us that making a difference can be as easy as just believing in a child and letting him know that he is an important part of your life; that you need him as much as he needs you.

“We can’t wait to see Jorge grow up and see what the next few years have in store for him. Jorge and his family have become our family. We are blessed to have them in our lives and are grateful to Big Brothers Big Sister for introducing us to them.” –Jason and Michelle Kruse