Ekain is a seventeen-year-old from Donostia-San Sebastián who has just finished bachillerato with a grade average of 9.9 out of 10. A number that speaks, but one that barely scratches the surface of who he really is.
He feels completely Basque and loves his culture deeply — without extremism. His identity is something he carries within, not something he imposes or fights for with violence.
His curiosity crosses every border — mathematics, physics, biology, philosophy, programming. That same curiosity led him to finish first in the Physics Olympiad of the Basque Country. Next year he will begin a double degree in IT and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Deusto.
He reads Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time in English — one of the longest fantasy sagas ever written. He is in no hurry. The best books deserve to be savoured.
Ekain feels emotions with unusual intensity — joy, sadness, emptiness, compassion — everything arrives amplified. Almost none of it shows on the surface. Not because he suppresses it, but because he has learned to inhabit it in silence, making his inner world a private space opened only to those who have truly earned it.
He senses the emotional state of others before they speak. Quiet, genuine, and often invisible to those around him.
An internal compass that distinguishes right from convenient, true from comfortable. No external validation needed.
A wide social circle, but only a handful truly know him. Trust is earned slowly and completely — once given, it is absolute.
In digital spaces he connects more naturally than face to face. Distance gives him permission to be himself.
"People, the way I see them, are not very trustworthy. But I still want to help them."
Ekain is going through a genuine existential crisis — a real and persistent emptiness, a deep question about what can give his life meaning. He tried to believe in God without success, though he knows he needs to believe in something.
And he found it, in his own way. That something is ice. Snow. Cold. The snowflake. Not literally, but as a deeply personal metaphor — an intimate symbol shared only with those he trusts most. A silent guide, a constant presence that gives him strength when everything else fails. It has no name from any religion. It is his. And that is what makes it powerful.
He also has a clear purpose: he wants to help people, make them better, inspire them to help others in turn. To make the world a better place — at least for the few people he truly cares about.
He does not drink alcohol, does not smoke, drinks only water. The traditional Basque cider house is the pinnacle of the perfect meal:
Always with bread. Always with water. Simple, honest, deeply Basque.
Ekain is a person who feels too much for a world unaccustomed to that level of depth. A brilliant mind that does not settle for learning — it needs to create, build, write, programme, design. A heart that wants to help others and make the world a better place, even when it finds it hard to trust them.
He carries a storm within and presents it as a clear sky. He has a universe of his own, encoded in metaphors of snow and ice, that accompanies him when no one else can. He is looking for that one person he will one day choose — and who will choose him back.
He is seventeen years old. He has already written books, won a regional physics olympiad, programmed video games, earned three language certifications, designed in 3D, edited videos, and built his own way of seeing the world from the inside out.
"The most interesting thing about Ekain is not what he has already done. It is what he is about to begin."
"A snowflake is unique, cold to the touch, and yet capable of transforming every landscape it settles on."