The semester is already creeping to a close by the time Ella Myers and I can align our schedules to meet. We prevailed past the complications of the calendar, so one Saturday morning brought us to the opposite sides of a small slate grey table pushed up to the lighter grey wall. Behind me, I knew a modern shade of blue coated a wall in her view. In front, the glass front wall let the outside world play out in my vision. All around us, people read, studied, and caught up. Echelon, the coffeehouse we were meeting at, was in the middle of a three-hour rush. Amidst all the hurry, we were there.

      In line together, I took in as many of the little things as possible. In the midst of all the chatter, lines always seem to be garnished with the glare of phone screens as people occupy themselves. Despite this, Ella and I kept up some light conversation. Her brown hair hung loosely just past her shoulders, and she wore a pair of clear glasses. Cream cardigan, an orange-red shirt, medium-wash loosely-fit jeans, and off-white sneakers gave her a casual air of leisurely style. As we approached the register. I noticed a few bouquets of flowers. Ella, however, noticed that they were selling stickers.

      “Oh, they’re so cute,” Ella said. She thought about getting one for her journal. Ella doesn’t keep a bullet journal, although she admires the beauty of uniform charts and pre-planned pages. Ella learned the art of junk journaling from Pinterest. She explained, “I saw this thing that was just, like you take receipts and postcards and whatever you want, and you can just make these little collage pieces, basically. There’s no expectation, and you can just do whatever.” It’s good to be creative, to have “an outlet, but it’s not an outlet that I’m being graded on.” This can be a struggle for creativity-based majors, which Ella definitely falls into.

      Ella is a vocal music education with instrument endorsement freshman at Missouri State University. This essentially means that she will be able to be certified for both choir and band for K-12 by the end of her college career—and she’s doing this all without double-majoring. Naturally, Ella has been singing in the alto range, but her professors have been pushing her to transition to soprano. It can be hard and confusing to transition a creative craft from something that is mostly self-edifying to something that must become perfect, especially with how much music was in Ella’s blood growing up.

      Ella’s parents met while studying music in college. Her father went on to become a music professor, and her mother became a music therapist. Asking about when Ella started music is like asking about the beginning of the world: only God could truly pinpoint the moment. “My first solo singing was at church,” she said, “singing the ABCs. I don’t know why I was singing the ABCs, but I was three—just sang the ABCs for a bunch of people! And, I just always have been doing little songs like that.” Despite this long-lasting and obvious passion for singing, Ella ended up learning several instruments as well. Before starting her tenure at MSU, Ella had already gained experience with percussion through her high school’s band, basic piano through her youth group, and jazz piano through her high school’s jazz group. She also enjoyed the dramatics provided by theater.

      With all this in mind, can it be any surprise that Ella is just as involved in college? She’s a part of several music organizations, including the Percussion Society (which she runs the Instagram for, like the Canva wizard she is). If you’ve been paying attention, you might remember that First & Calvary’s own Lillian Moreland is the president of the Percussion Society. In fact, Lily introduced Ella to the Scholar’s Program by inviting Ella to join our bell choir. Ella’s interest crescendoed into her joining the program this semester, and it’s been an absolute pleasure to get to know her. 

      Unlike the many upperclassmen in the program, Ella is still at the beginning of her higher educational career. We are so excited to get the opportunity to watch Ella come into herself even further over the course of the next few years. Her ability to recognize the need for relaxation and relief in the midst of a very stressful major speaks profoundly to her own understanding of God’s design for humans. 

      If you’re looking for a place to connect creativity with Christianity as well as faith and fun, we’d love to discuss your potential future as a First & Calvary Scholar. Interviews are currently in session, don’t put off applying at: https://www.firstandcalvary.org/scholars-application.

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Written by Jocelyn Squires, 2024-2025 Scholar