Throughout life, you'll in someway be asked to think about someone who inspires you. Most people will say their parents, and, while this is true for me as well, I had a different person in mind when I was first asked this question in my college speech class. My professor looked everyone in the eyes and said, "If you could pick any ONE person, famous or not, who would you say your inspiration is?" Many kids answered my mom, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and while all of those are fantastic inspirations, mine is a little different.
Gui Lopes is one of the most genuine people I have ever met in my life. He is humbled and very remarkable. The first time I had ever met him was when I was Young Team for a Salesian Leadership Retreat that he was leading. He had talked to the group via GroupMe for about three months and I thought he was going to be the weirdest guy ever. When we got off that bus and he greeted us I knew I was in for a treat. He bonded with us all so easily and made our SLR the best I could've imagined. I've told you about Gui but not why he inspires me so maybe I should do that now.
Gui inspires me because of how he handles young people. The way he is with us is the way I want to be with the next generation of Salesians. Watching Gui handle all our antics is part of the reason I want to pursue Youth Ministry. While Gui is still very young himself, I feel like having him apart of the Salesians is the greatest thing that has happened. He brings so much life and tears into a room when he walks in. At times I've thought to myself how does Gui do it? Then I remembered he works for the Salesians how could he not love every second in that office? He gets to plan SLR and be apart of them, he gets to plan and help with GR and so much more that we don't even know about! This sounds like a dream job to all the young salesians out there and the perfect person is behind the computer screen doing everything we know and love.
Gui is one of the people that surprises you by the end of your time with them. He made such an impact on people in only the seven days we were with him. Our YT is sad that we are about to be replaced but we were Gui's first group and nobody can ever take that away from us. When someone asks me again who my inspiration is, my answer will still be Gui Lopes (and prolly Donny B as well!!)
PS: STILL WAITING FOR THE HALF-ZIPS
