Layah's Interview with Ella

Interview with Ella Brock (she/her). 

Ella’s full name is Gabrielle because her mom “simply liked it”. Her dad has wondered why her name isn’t Gabriella since she uses Ella as her preferred name. He has also joked that her middle name, Elise, was inspired by a car — although it's spelled completely differently. She has an older and a younger sister, and three pet rats with distinct names and personality quirks.

One thing I admire about Ella is her consideration about visiting foreign destinations. When travelling to a new area, she may hesitate to avoid intruding on another region’s cultural and societal practices. If she were to travel, she would like to visit the Louvre when it is completely empty.

What Ella and I have in common is body art in the form of tattoos. She has seven, with her favorite being a large jester on her thigh. When I asked her why this was her favorite, Ella shared, “I'm a jester...You keep me around to keep you laughing, you can't kill me.” As we prepare for Halloween, Ella shared a fun story of her 2024 experience. Since last year was an election year and early voting was an option, she dressed as the Swedish Chef from the Muppets and decided to go to the polls. Initially she was afraid she wouldn’t be allowed in since she was in full costume including a large fake nose and mustache, however, the poll staff got a kick out of her costume and allowed her to cast her vote like normal.