Dear Lancaster University Family,

My name is Ignacio de la Puerta and I was part of the student body at Lancaster University in 2012/2013. More than 7 years have passed since I studied at your (“our”) University, but my memories have remained intact. I belonged to Bowland College and I had the opportunity to be part of the first soccer team, with which, by the way, we managed to lift the cup trophy that same year (as an anecdote I will say that for the official photo you had to present yourself with the second team T-shirt and I showed up with the first team T-shirt, hence I'm the only one that was wearing a different t-shirt ... You know, language stuff!) I studied Law and came on the ERASMUS scheme. And although I managed to qualify as a lawyer, today I dedicate myself to another quite different profession. Today I am an actor and film director (for which I trained after I finished my law studies). I have already been in more than eight movies and four different TV series. I have acted for cinema, Netflix and Amazon. I've also filmed television and social networks ads (which amuses me a lot because I use my social networks as a way of life) - and I have more than 200,000 followers between Instagram and Facebook. I have recently been shooting an international series called “Glow & Darkness” which involves filming in Spain, Italy, Morocco, Malta and probably England, where we will go to shoot part of the series because it is filmed in English language and many of the actors are English. Having said that, I will tell you how much it has helped me in my life to go through our University. And let me say "ours", but I feel that a piece of that University is mine too. When I say that Lancaster University changed my life, I am not lying. It was, without a doubt, the best year of my life. I made friendships that still exist today; friends from all corners of the world. Italians, Brazilians, Greeks, Chinese, ... The corners of that University brought us all together as if we were brothers and I loved it. It is not only the training you receive as a student, but also as a person. That is why I want to thank from here, from a small corner of southern Spain, the University of Lancaster, for allowing me to be part of it all during that wonderful year. Thank you for how much you contributed to my life and I hope, one day, to return the affection you gave me by welcoming me to “our” University.

Thanks so much!! A hug! And… Come on Bowland!!!

Ingnacio de la Puerta