BATON ROUGE – LSU athletics partnered with Big Buddy for the organization’s 12th-annual Day of a Mentor which allowed member of the Big Buddy program to shadow LSU student-athletes in their daily campus routine.
Student-athletics representing baseball, gymnastics, men’s tennis, swimming and diving, track and field, softball and volleyball participated in the event along with members from the Cox Communications Academic Center.
The day started with the student-athletes meeting their Little Buddies for breakfast at the Catholic Life Center. Once on campus, the Little Buddies received an up-close look at where some of their mentors compete and train. The group also toured the new basketball practice facility before wrapping up the day with a special luncheon.
“It’s always a blast participating in the Big Buddy Program,” softball’s Ashley Applegate said. “The children were very excited to see us, and it’s really nice to see them happy. It’s rewarding and worthwhile seeing smiles on their faces.”
“This was a fun event,” track and field’s Whitney Johnson said. “I volunteered because I enjoy doing anything that makes children happy. I’m education major, and I hope to have a career one day working with children.”
Big Buddy established the “Day of a Mentor” in 1998 to bring awareness to the service of mentoring and to motivate members of the community to become involved and make a difference in the life of a child.