Ella Caron

Ella Caron is a character role-played by Nochh.

Backstory
Ella Caron is a 25yo French girl, came along with her parents to Los Santos 5 years ago, like many others before them, looking for a better life. They arrived with a few suitcases in hand and not much in her pocket, eager to cash the blank checks of their immigrant imaginations. For her parents, it was the bold promise of limitless opportunities for their daughter. Ella's vision of LS, on the other hand, was a mosaic of Hollywood movies: a land of golden-haired people, shiny cars, and cowboys. This coincided with a time in her life when she was struggling with adjusting to a new culture and country. She was struggling with being able to identify with her peers at college, where her French accent, the color of her skin, the way she wore her hair, the food she ate, and the country she came from were all subjects for teasing. Everything was new, including the way the world viewed her. It was hard, but she had to make it. Disappointing her parents was definitely not an option.

Immigrants like her are true adventurers: choosing to leave behind the things that make them confident and comfortable, choosing to be humbled in a land and often in a language that are wholly foreign. They work hard, struggle, and persevere because they love the possibilities of empowerment that this city represents. It’s not easy to start from scratch in this country. Her parents worked long days. She remembers learning the term “graveyard shift” and worrying they would see ghosts as they worked through the night. But somehow they always came home smiling, never having seen ghosts but always sharing some new American facts.

Her positive exposure to the outdoors at an early age motivated her to make it a part of her adult life. But as she’ve pursued bigger and more exciting backpacking and camping experiences, it has often come with a price tag that includes airline tickets, rental cars, equipment for camping and hiking, and the ability to use paid leave. But most expensive of all: the privilege to see the outdoors as a positive lifestyle option for herself.

For many immigrants, transitioning into a new life in this country is financially, socially, and psychologically challenging. So trying something new, costly, and wholly unfamiliar (like camping) isn’t usually a priority. That’s why she feels privileged to have experienced the joy of the outdoors at a young age. Her family could both afford to buy the minimum gear needed and take the time for these trips, and they were lucky enough to avoid having bad experiences out there that would have prevented then from returning. That was a blessing.

Her Goal in this city is to make a better living than in France and try to find a job that suits her like maybe a Hiking coach, or a Gym coach by tryna get to see if there are any people interested in sports so they can gather up and go jog on the beach or even at gyms. Also another dream she has is to make friends that share the same interests as her and organize actual campings with them. That’s why in August of 2019, she launched @IamFrenchCamp on Instagram, a digital project through which she share photos and stories about her experiences as an immigrant who loves the outdoors. She hoped that by being honest about her experiences as a minority in the outdoors, she can encourage others who identify with her to push past their hesitations and get outside more.