Senior theatre major Ella Carder shares how faith, opportunity, and community helped her transform uncertainty into purpose. Ella Carder was left unimpressed when she visited Olivet Nazarene University for the first time during her senior year of high school.
“I didn’t like it at all,” she said. “I just couldn’t feel anything.” Then it changed several months later. After whirlwind college visits and doubts about what her major was, Ella received an unexpected email from Olivet admissions.
“I had received a scholarship that someone else had refused,” she said. “They told me I was the runner-up, and I thought, well, if they’re going to give me money, I need to check it out again.” Her second visit felt different. “It was the first time I felt the Holy Spirit in an admissions office,” she said. “I just knew God was saying, ‘This is your next step.’” Now a senior double majoring in theater and production, Ella reflects with gratitude. “I said yes to Olivet — and am so grateful I did.”
Theater Life
While she acknowledges that theater “can be toxic” in many other places, Ella likens Olivet’s theatre department to a sanctuary.
“Here it’s different — it’s intoxicating in the best way,” she said. “We talk about God, we hold each other up, we stay until midnight because we want to be there.” Carder seemed to connect with peers who shared her values from day one of her first show. She’s acted, assistant-directed, and now contributes to the university’s fall play, 1984.
“It’s so much better than any other place I’ve ever been,” she said. The scope of her work goes further than the stage. In her freshman year, she lived in Williams Hall, and the following year she became a resident assistant.
“I enjoyed being a part of each of those girls’ lives,” Carder said. “It’s satisfying to know that I can contribute.”
I don’t think a lot of people see how devoted she is. Not only to her work but her family. Even as she’s at college she makes a point to still be very involved in my life.
-Liza Carder
When she is not on the stage, Carder enjoys the little free time she has by crafting, watching TV, hanging out with her sister, Liza Carder, dancing or taking trips to Starbucks to devour a Strawberry Aćai Lemonade.
When Liza was asked about her sister she had several stories to share.
“When I was in junior high and Ella was a senoir in high school, our school had a homecoming week where we would dress up in crazy outfits,” Liza said. “We were at school for a student council meeting and she was getting dressed in the bathroom before school started. She was dressed as Pitbull (bald cap and all) and was really nervous to go out in the hallway fully bald but she took a deep breath and strutted out of that bathroom without a care in the world. This moment always stuck with me because I think it shows her boldness despite what people think just to go with a bit. I think it shows how she’s been a role model to me through her bravery and boldness”.
Blessings
Carder gets her education via a tuition exchange program associated with her mother’s work in Christian media.
“It’s full tuition,” she said. “I pay housing, but I don’t have loans right now, which is such a blessing.” She also still works weekends back home as a waitress.
“I enjoy talking to people,” she said. “Food service just fills me up — it keeps me grounded.” It doesn’t always take off with work, theater, and two majors. “I’m producing Tonight at Olivet, assistant directing 1984, and trying to prepare for the next semester in L.A.,” she added. “It’s a lot.” As stress mounts, Carder leans on her faith. “It’s kind of cliché, but I pray,” she said. “When I give my concerns over to God, I can physically feel the load lift off my shoulders.” Her mantra has often been this: Philippians 4:6-8 — “Don’t be anxious about anything.”
Future Plans
As graduation nears, Carder is keeping herself open to the future.
“If we’re being honest, I have no idea,” she said with a smile. Whether she’s onstage, behind the camera, or in a classroom, Ella tells me she feels confident in only one thing: “I don’t have to be anxious. God’s got it.”
Carder is a force to be reckoned with. Juggling all of the responsibilities with theatre, work, and all of the stresses life throws at her, her grace in the hard times is unmatched. Waiting in line for a simple chocolate croissant at Starbucks, she asked what I wanted. I responded “to be more like you.”
