Significant Influence Essay

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College Application Essay Topic: Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence. Looking back throughout my life I have come to realized that the person who has the greatest influence on me, even after her passing, is my grandmother. She taught me the most valuable lessons in life by exciting me with her love for helping others and her passion for education and learning. My grandmother graduated college as an elderly woman, while most of the people in her age group did not make it through high school. She immersed herself in language, mathematics, sciences, literature, and other various subjects purely for the sake of knowing more. She thought of education as a privilege and taught me to eagerly seize any opportunity to learn. We would spend time reading together in her house crammed with massive piles of books and bibles as she opened my world to both fictional and non-fictional stories. And so she shared with me a love for reading. Most importantly, through my grandmother’s love of knowing and discovering, she showed me the importance of the mind and the power it gives to us. I am also inspired by my grandmother’s love for volunteering and bringing happiness to the unfortunate. When I was four years old my grandmother first took me to Wrentham Developmental Center to spend time with mentally and physically disabled residents. She introduced me to so many people that have helped shaped who I am. The resident my grandmother spent the most time with was a woman wheel chair bound with cerebral palsy named Nancy. As I grew up with my grandmother bringing me with her to visit at this place, Nancy taught me how beautiful life is and how lucky I am to be able to embrace even the smallest of pleasures that many cannot. My grandmother also volunteered teaching religious education. As soon as I made my First Communion she
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