HUMANS OF BELLAIRE – Ellie Arrazolo

“We had the blessing to go to Canada almost every summer. I enjoyed summer vacation with my sisters, playing with them, picking berries, waking up early. You’re just excited to start the day as a kid. I love nature. It was so pretty, and there’s family there who loves [me]. I had a good childhood. 

My values come a lot from my family: honesty, laughter, being able to admit when I’m wrong, sitting down for a good meal, prayer, just the good, core values that are easy to list but can be hard to put into practice. My faith has always been the reason for why I am kind to others. My mom’s an English teacher, so we read a lot of books at night. There’s definitely a lot of reinforcement of valuing literature and appreciating stories.

From my dad’s side, I get to hang out with the Mexican side of my family. It reinforces the importance of family and honoring your parents. There’s an overall sense of ‘You can always come back to family’ like a big safety net. I have a lot of love poured in there, and having someone to lean on makes a big difference.

I love meeting new people and having a personal connection with them. There’s been a lot of heartwarming moments in choir. There’s been moments of rawness that I’ve come to value more because it’s harder to be real sometimes when we’re so caught up in [the] busyness of stuff. It’s taught me to appreciate people and be more thankful for them and their strengths. I’ve gained a deeper understanding of my own need for community. There’s beauty in being part of something bigger than yourself.

I’ve struggled with time management, focus and being a good student. Mental health struggles from that [made me] feel so dysfunctional sometimes. COVID enforced more isolation. I’m still learning how to be open about any sort of struggle with people, with friends and wanting to be also someone that people can come to. We all want to be accepted and known. 

I am thankful that this past summer, I finally learned that , ‘Oh, yeah, I do have ADHD.’ I have a reinforced appreciation for God. I need a soul anchor that doesn’t make everything always bright and shiny but does help me keep going. I’m meeting all different individuals and appreciating diversity and people’s backgrounds and cultures. 

I hope people remember me as someone who’s kind, encouraging and honest. I hope I made somebody laugh on a bad day. I’m really grateful to God, my family, my friends and everyone who’s believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself.”