On July 28th, 2003 I entered this crazy, beautiful, scary, place otherwise known as Earth. At the time I don’t really think I knew what I was getting myself into. Instead, I was wrapped into my mom’s warm arms, oblivious to the fact my life had just begun.
The Story of How I Got My Name
When it came to figuring out what my parents would call me, my three older siblings of course had to have a say. My oldest sibling and brother, Alex who is now 27, along with my father, really liked the name Ava. However, my sister Mia, the middle child (explains a lot) who is now 22, had her own opinions of what I should be named. You see, she really was into Disney princesses at the time and thought the perfect name for me was Cinderella. Thank goodness my mom did not let her have her way. Instead, she offered up the idea of naming me Ella, short for Cinderella. My oldest sister Isabel, who is now 25, voted for Ella, but, in the end, my mom agreed with my brother and father on Ava.
And since then, I’ve been Ava Caroline Scrabis.
Steel City
I grew up in a small township in PA about 18 minutes away from Pittsburgh (aka the BEST city in the world) called Kennedy.
Being the youngest of four, my childhood was filled with being dragged along to too many soccer tournaments, musical performances, camps, choir concerts, practices, and whatever else my other siblings had going on in their lives.
I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way though. It exposed me to different hobbies and activities that I too would one day get to try out.
As I got older, I finally got to be a part of something for myself. I played soccer for twelve years for my school’s team as well as at the club level, getting to finally experience traveling on weekends to my own soccer tournaments. I also got into basketball and played for both my school’s team and AAU teams over the years.
Figuring It Out
It wasn’t until high school that I truly felt like my life had started. I found a core group of friends, fell in love, and really started to figure out who I was and who I wanted to be.
After taking a creative writing class my sophomore year, I knew my passion for writing was something I needed to look into. I also knew that I wanted to pursue fashion, something I always had a keen interest in.
By junior year, I planned to attend college and major in fashion merchandising, I just had to figure out where.
I immediately applied to the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) and Kent State after hearing about their high ranked fashion programs. Once I had been accepted into both schools, I had to make a decision: either head out to New York City and attend the #1 fashion school in the world or travel an hour and a half to Kent, Ohio to not only attend a great fashion school but also properly experience a college lifestyle.
For me, Kent just made sense knowing that I would still get to be close to my family, something very important to me because of how close we all are, while also being enrolled into an extremely well-known fashion school.
Looking back…
Now as I am beginning my sophmore at Kent, I know I made the right decision.
My freshmen year was not always easy, but I did get a lot out of it. I joined a sorority (Alpha Phi), met so many new people with similar interest to my own, walked in my first ever fashion show, figured out how to make a long distance relationship work, learned how to do my own laundry, and even went to NYC.
Up to Date
This year I am living in my sorority house with my best friends, am a web-writer for A-Mag (Kent State’s fashion, beauty, and culture magazine), and for my second year, a member of the Fashion Student Organization (FSO).
This is just a sneak peek into my nineteen years on this planet. If I wanted to, this page could be very, and I mean very long if I were to describe in detail all of the small and large moments that have made up my life to this very point.
For now, I am going to continue staying true to the little girl that was born into her mom’s arms on July 28th. You may know the basics of where I’m from, but you’ll have to stick around to see where I’m going…
