Undergraduate / Interaction with one another, University of Miami essay [6]

I seem to be about 50 words to long, since these essay should run 250 words. i would like help editing unneeded sentences please and thank you.

Interaction with one another influences oneself in many ways, though it takes someone special to really alter your judgment. Not to get confused with the average person, this significant person's presence makes you want to do your best. Eric. Two years ago, this name wouldn't have meant anything to me. Yet now it holds true to my spirit. I first met Eric on my first day of work ever, lifeguarding. Being a senior lifeguard holds many responsibilities, and being one of three lifeguards, he always had our best interest. Having more years of experience then me, he has been through a lot at relatively such a young age, 26. I am not surprised of this due to the fact that he's a firefighter in Davie. On the fortunate days when I have break with him, he usually tells tales of his adventures. Sitting there like a schoolboy listening to his mentor, I watch and learn from his experience. Yet theses stories are not for the faint of heart. There are many grotesque facts about these stories, sometimes making me grunge. I keep on listening as the summer goes by. Until one day, there was a foul taste in my mouth. Eric was describing a routine drive along a weekend. There happened to be a drunken lady wandering the streets walking around with a six pack of beer. She happened to get ran over by a car and broke many bones, yet not one bottle was broken. Joking about how she held on the bottles so they wouldn't break, I question his sense of humor. He told me something that I will never forget. Sometimes you have to laugh at things to get over them, if not your not going to get over it. I never knew that one statement could have such an impact on my life.