Undergraduate / What factors have shaped me - influenced by surrounding people, especially by one boy; my first love [4]

Since I am not a native english speaker please give me feedback! (grammar, ideas, thesis, anything wrong pretty much)

"my first love" - summer program application essay

I personally consider my character to be strongly influenced by surrounding people, especially one particular boy. He lived 5,000 miles away but somehow was able to stay in my heart for 3 years. I could have chosen to write about volunteering that inspired me but I will always know that the biggest factor that influenced me was my first love.

"How could one boy influence your entire personality?" you would ask.
The boy had quite an unusual background: his mom was japanese, dad was mexican and they all lived under one roof in the USA. Such unusual circumstances meant that I unconsciously emerged into one of the weirdest households in my life. Coming over always meant hearing exclamations in three or four languages, eating food that had a mixture of various cultures, watching mexican dramas and japanese "doramas". All these things shaped me into an individual that thrives to learn new everyday and respects others.

Intelligence is a particularly dubious subject to discuss, however I believe I became smarter. Getting closer to people means emerging yourself into the world of their interests and this is the way I discovered my passion for international affairs. The boy was an eager UN Models participant so our dialogues would always turn into flaming hot debates about world crisis, inflation, future perspectives for the world. We loved to share what news in our countries say, compare them and then childishly act as if we were giving orders to Joe Biden in the senate to change the situation in the world.

In the rush of mundane routine, I never forgot to think of the boy, ask him about his day. Although it seems normal, the experience taught me to think of someone but myself. I subconsciously became mature, it occurred to me that not everyone is going to remind me of my responsibilities. I kept my brisk perspectives on the world but learned that not everything is going to be easy.

Thinking of old days always puts a smile on my face as I realize that I would never become who I am today without my first love: devoted, passionate and, somehow, already all grown-up.