Influences
(Sent by Cristina Andres González, a student from Salamanca, Spain)

One person who has influenced in my life is my grandfather, the father of my mother, who is still alive. He is a thin man of average height. His gray hair, which once was completely black, makes him look wise and his round green eyes reflect a quiet wisdom.

My grandfather is the person who has helped me to become the person I really am because I think I look like him a lot.

He is ninety years old and although he was born in 1922, he is an open-minded person because he has lived two wars in his life and he had a hard childhood having to work from a very early age.

He has had to take rejection along his life, but however, he has always survived over bad circumstances. He lost not quite his family and now he is living in a residential home, and he is always encouraging me to study because he was never able to study due to the difficult moment when he grew up. I would describe him as a great and calm person who has supported us in everything we do, me, my brother and his great grandchildren.

He has always had discipline to work hard and bring his family up and I think that is on what I look like him.

I'm very proud of him because he is the most unselfish person I've ever met, because he's always helping people who need support, so he is the person I admire and the person who I would like to live forever.

Finally, when I feel disappointed or depressed I think about his life, and how he has suffered to get here, not grumbling or complaining.