Ricardo Oropeza is like a brother to Anuva Singha. The two were matched a year and a half ago through Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City.

“Thinking back to where I was and at that age, it’s just kind of difficult to get a perspective of what’s possible in the future because you’re only, you only know what you're given,” Oropeza said.

A few times a month, Singha heads to Oropeza’s office at Sony Music Group, where he is a data analyst. The two discuss everything from their lives to anime. 

“The first few, you tried to get me to watch “Blue Lock,” Oropeza said as he sat with Singha. “I gave it my all. I just, I couldn’t.”

The pair clicked early in their relationship. Oropeza was born in Venezuela. Singha immigrated from Nepal in 2021.

“He would understand because you went through the same things when he was in the education system,” Singha said. “He was here.’”

“I feel like it really brought us together in terms of, kind of like, the life experience,” Oropeza said.

Oropeza helped Singha set a goal to improve her public speaking, encouraging her to take a class and speak at a recent Big Brothers Big Sisters event.

“I couldn’t be prouder, honestly,” he said. “I think it’s like such a dramatic change in such a short period of time.”

Singha will be applying to college in the fall. Oropeza has been a sounding board, assuring her that it’s okay to switch majors like he did. 

“It wasn’t like ‘Oh my gosh, I’m doing one thing and suddenly you don’t know what to do — what you’re doing,’” she said. “It’s not like having a midlife crisis.”

“Just by telling your stories, by yapping away, you can provide that type of experience and even just like some sort of roadmap that they didn’t have before,” Oropeza said.

For being a “big brother” to a younger generation, Ricardo Oropeza is our New Yorker of the Week.