Someone Who Changed My Life
- By Beatrice Genco
Sometimes people who change your life can be someone who you seem to know forever. The change may not be sudden or spectacular, but little habits can generate big ideas that make you think about what is important in your life. The person who changed my life isn’t famous but she is well known to all those who are in need of her help. Her name is Julia Masi and she has been a friend of the family for about 20 years. Julia dedicates her free time to help feed the poor by working in soup kitchens in the New
York City area. She is also a volunteer with many associations such as New York Cares,
Children of the City, SPAN, and Magic Hospital. She has taught me so many things that
I will carry with me throughout my life.
One of the many things I have learned from Julia is how to balance time. Julia has shown me how to plan ahead so that I can study, finish all my school work, enjoy sports and still have time for my friends. She has taught me that you can do anything if you are determined and if you never give up. I’ve also learned that you can find anything fun or interesting if you connect it with something that you enjoy.
Last year I hated studying vocabulary, but I loved playing on my computer. Julia combined the two and showed me a website called “freerice.com” where you can play a word game and you get 5 grains of rice to donate to the poor with every correct word.
She challenged me to learn a hundred new words by filling up the rice bowl. I liked playing the game so much that I learned approximately 1,000 words in just one month.

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Julia always encourages me to try new hobbies and to balance everything with my studies. Academics are important to her but so are the arts. She showed me that going to the theater could help me become a