Name: Natalie Elliott
Major: Communications with an emphasis in Journalism
Year: Sophomore
Hometown: Oklahoma City, OK
Â
Her Campus Cal Lutheran: What made you choose Cal Lutheran?
Natalie Elliott: “I chose Cal Lutheran because it was the only school that felt “right” when I visited. I liked a lot of other schools, thought their campuses were beautiful, but I couldn’t see myself there. With Cal Lutheran, I immediately felt like I was in the right place. I came for Admitted Students Day and everyone was so unbelievably kind to me. It felt like home.”
HCCLU: What is your favorite thing about Cal Lutheran?
NE:Â “Hmmm, probably the people! I know that sounds cliche, but it’s true. Nearly everyone I’ve met here has a heart of gold. Generally, our student population is extremely humble and kind. And everyone is so involved! I think that’s a big part of it too. Talk to anyone and they’ll be able to list off sports, clubs, etc. that they’re involved in. The passion is super motivating.”
HCCLU: Why did you join Her Campus?
NE: “I lived in Boston, MA for my last two years of high school and that is where Her Campus Nationals’ office is located. And my high school did a program where you could basically ditch the last month of senior year and launch yourself into the real world. So I landed an internship at Her Campus, and absolutely loved every minute of it. Once my internship ended, they got me all set up with the club here and so once I got to campus, I joined! It’s such a great community and everyone immediately made me feel welcome.”HCCLU: What other things do you do on campus?
NE:Â “Other than being the Writing Director of Her Campus, I am pretty involved in YoungLife. I go to club at CLU, but I’m also a leader for WyldLife, which is the middle school branch of YoungLife. That’s really it for on campus. I have an off campus job at SunLife Organics which is pretty cool. That takes up a lot of my time as well.”
HCCLU: Tell me about YoungLife and Wyldlife. What got you started with that?
NE: “So I guess I kind of already explained how I got involved in YoungLife. As for WyldLife, I had been going to college club for a while, and some of the leaders encouraged me to do leader training. Once I finished, the other leaders and I decided I would fit best with middle schoolers, so I was put in WyldLife. Basically, what we do is have club every other Friday where we play games, have raffles, and do a short message. For the kids who consistently come, we do Campaigners, which is a small youth group every other week. We also hang out with the kids pretty consistently whether it’s getting frozen yogurt or chaperoning their school dances! I love doing it. Middle school was a rough time for me, so being able to even make a small difference in their lives is super impactful. They’re all lights in my life.”
HCCLU: What made you decide to become a Christian?
NE:Â “Well, I was raised somewhat Christian. My family would pray before Thanksgiving dinner and whatnot, and I’d go to church with my grandmother. But, I don’t think I ever really understood what or who I was worshipping. So, I went through a phase (your stereotypical teenage rebellion), and it was pretty bad. I was completely disrespecting my family, and openly condemning Christianity as a false religion. It wasn’t until nearly halfway through my senior year of high school that I realized my actions weren’t making me or anyone around me feel very good. So, chance had it that I went on a trip to India for a little over a month. It was kind of a time of soul searching, and since I was in a Hindu country, that’s kind of where my focus was. It felt really good for a while, but something felt a little off and I couldn’t get that feeling out of my head. So I was at this temple in Jagannath Puri. It’s a very spiritual site for Hindus in northern India. And it was the first time I had tried to pray traditionally with prayer beads and chanting and I just couldn’t seem to focus. It took me a minute to realize what was going on, but in the middle of India I heard God’s voice and He just said to me “This isn’t your path.” It sounds crazy, and at the time I was super reluctant to believe it, but that’s what happened. So I realized that my fascination with Hinduism was just that- fascination and no belief. I started kind of praying for some sort of Christian leader to come into my life so I could have some guidance and when I got back to the US there was a letter for me from my PA at CLU. And it was Ashlee Bowen, who is just about as much “Christian leader” as you can get. So she would invite me to church and YoungLife and I was kind of going through the motions. It wasn’t until I went on a mission trip to Rancho Sordo Mudo, a school for the deaf and mute children of Mexico, that I finally dedicated my life to Christ. It’s pretty amazing how things work out like that. I’ve never been more genuinely happy in my life so that’s pretty cool.”HCCLU:Â Â Where are you studying abroad and what made you choose that place?
NE:Â “Next semester I am studying abroad in Granada, Spain. Originally, I was looking at Barcelona because my mom used to live there, but my main goal with study abroad is to get an immersion experience and potentially become fluent in Spanish. In Barcelona, they speak a lot of English and Catalan, and not so much Spanish. Granada is just big enough to be a fun college town, but small enough to really get that cultural immersion. Traveling is a big part of my identity, so that’s why I chose Granada.”
HCCLU: If you could do anything after college what would you do regardless of money?
NE:Â “I would love to just travel the world. I think backpacking South America would be especially incredible. I’d love to see the Patagonia and Machu Picchu.”
HCCLU: What are your actual plans for after college?
NE:Â “Ideally, I want my first year or two to be spent doing some kind of volunteer or mission work, like with the Peace Corps or the World Race. Then, I want to work on my blog a lot and eventually go freelance travel writing. The ultimate goal is to be an on staff travel writer for a magazine or newspaper. Then I would get paid to travel and write about it- my two favorite things!”