Ella O’Rourke is a sophomore at Eastern High School. She calls herself a comic relief and is someone who is gracious and empathetic to everyone she meets. She cares deeply about the people around her and puts her friends first. “I think of myself as funny, I love telling puns,” Ella shared. When asked about her favorite joke, Mr. Tolly urged her to tell her Harry Potter joke. “Two boys are reading The Harry Potter series. The second boy is still reading the fifth book and hasn’t finished it yet. The first boy spoils the ending for the second boy. The second boy then says, ‘You know how I feel about spoilers, are you serious?’ The second boy then says ‘I am dead Sirius.’
Ella’s favorite things to do outside of school are reading and drawing. She particularly enjoys books that are most popular with teens, and books that are in a series. When talking about her favorite class she says it is history, “because her teacher is really funny and fun!” Mr. Everse teaches her history course.
“When I graduate High School I want to become a scientist of some sort. I’m thinking maybe an astronomer or environmental scientist. The person who has always believed in me and that I look up to is my mom. She is really nice and always helps me when I need it.”
“Living with autism is difficult, and my autism isn’t even that bad. I want everyone to know that people with autism aren’t stupid, they just think differently than others. There is a whole spectrum of different levels of severity of autism. I am mostly good in social situations but, things in school like math are hard.” Ella added, “My favorite part of the day is lunch, I love being able to be around my friends.” She loves being around her peers and friends, but she always tells me she wishes she didn’t have any homework.
“A fun fact about me is with video games, I take a lot of risks. Where in real life, when something that could potentially have negative results is happening, I am usually a voice of reason. When I play video games, I am not afraid of consequences or negative reactions.”
Ella wants FHE to know “that I watch Steven Universe and everyone else should too. The show has a lot of diversity and good life lessons. It has convinced me to support equality for everyone. Equality for people of color, genders, and sexuality is very important to me.”
Friends of Ella’s shared the following:
“I always see her spinning and dancing in the hallways, it never fails to brighten my day.”
“I love the joy I see on Ella’s face when she sees someone she is deeply connected to. I love seeing that joy radiating from her.”
“Being with Ella for an hour a day is the best part about my day. She never fails to make me laugh, I love her humor. Graduating this spring feels so bittersweet because I won’t be able to see her every day in fifth hour anymore.”
