Bella Ball is a Good Faith Media Ernest C. Hynds Jr. intern for the summer 2023. She is studying Management Information Systems with a minor in Data Science at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. After graduation, Ball plans on pursuing a career in data science.
1. What story, verse or passage from your faith tradition’s sacred texts has significantly influenced / shaped your life?
My life has been heavily influenced by First Corinthians 13 and Luke 22:39 together. I think it’s really important to keep in mind that the second most important thing we were told to do is to love each other, and to do that, we need to know what love is.
2. Who are three people (other than your family) who have shaped your life and worldview? And why?
My life has been heavily shaped by my high school percussion teacher, Ms. Armangac, my roommate Faith and streamer Dan Ring, known as musiciscode.
Ms. Armangac taught me how to teach myself so that I could really work on developing my skills and using them to the best of my ability. She put everything she had into teaching her students and demonstrated pouring her heart into those around her.
Dan showed to me that success may not be where you first think it would be. He found success streaming music on a site that didn’t even exist back when he was in college. His story helped me learn to adapt to disappointments. His original goal was to be an optometrist, and when it didn’t work for him, he still carried on and found success elsewhere.
Faith has taught me that there’s always more to people than you know. Through the time I’ve known her, I’ve seen many different sides to her, and every time she shows me that there is more to her than I can ever know.
3. List three of your “desert island” books, movies or TV shows.
When it comes to books, I think I could just about always reread a collection of classic fairytales. As for TV shows, I always come back to “Steven Universe Future” because of how it depicts adapting to life changes and acknowledging the past.
4. What is one of the most critical issues people are facing today?
I think people today focus a lot on being heard, seen and understood but few want to try to hear, see or understand those who are different from them. This encourages people to stay within groups of those that are similar to them, and so instead of bridging the gaps between us, we push ourselves further apart.
5. What are a few of your hobbies?
I really enjoy activities that involve any sort of “creating.” I do a lot of crocheting and baking, and I play a lot of music too. Outside of these, I like to try unique things like unicycle, ballroom dancing and jiu jitsu.
6. If you could freeze your life into an already-lived 10 seconds, what would they be?
I’d freeze my life into right after I graduated high school. I was with all of my family, and I didn’t have anything coming up to worry about.
7. Our tagline at Good Faith Media is, “There’s more to tell.” What’s your “more to tell”?
My “more to tell” is that to find joy, we need to show love to others and put them first. We should focus on listening to others first and be patient and not rush to be heard ourselves.
Reflection and resources at the intersection of faith and culture through an inclusive Christian lens.