Jobs are the number one reason that families move around the world. For Ella Ferns and her family, this was the case. Ella Ferns was born in Maine and has moved nine times with her family for her dad’s job. Ella Ferns’ dad, Michael Ferns, is a pilot in the Navy.  The family moves wherever his job requires.

They have moved to Maine, Florida, Maryland, Virginia Beach, Carlisle PA, Virginia, Washington DC, and finally, Hershey.

“We stayed on the east coast because wanted to stay close to my relatives,” said Ferns. Ella Ferns has a very big family who she is very close with.

As if moving wasn’t hard enough, Ferns had a traumatic injury last February. On February 2nd, 2018, Ferns tore her ACL at lacrosse tryouts. She had to miss out the entire 2018 lacrosse season.

“It really sucked because I found out that I made the highest team possible, but I could not play,” said Ferns. She was not allowed to tumble, cheer, or play lacrosse for a long time.

After her injury, Ferns was on bed rest for a month.  The bed rest time period was the hardest for Ferns because it was the longest period of time. She had just gotten out of surgery and could not walk on her own. Her dad had to help her do anything that involves walking, including going to the bathroom.

After the bed rest period when she could start to move again, she was in a wheelchair for a week, and then on crutches for two weeks.

Part of the process for recovery involves many doctor appointments. In Ella Ferns’ case, she was in the middle of a move while she had these doctor appointments going on. When she first moved to Hershey, she had to go back to Virginia for appointments with her old doctor.  

Moving every few years can be very hard, but Ferns found it to be not as hard as she thought it would be. “I kind of just went along with the move and the next thing I know, I was in a completely different location. The only move that I remember being the hardest was the move from Virginia Beach because it was hard to say goodbye to the location and I had the most friends there,” said Ferns

Most of her family lives in New Hampshire. In fact, everyone on her dad’s side lives there, and  they often go to visit over breaks.

Even though Ella Ferns did not have a hard time moving, some of her family members did. “My Mom doesn’t like to move around, but she always keeps a positive vibe. My brother also likes to settle in one place and stay there. He also has a hard time letting go so he finds moving harder than the rest of the family,” said Ella Ferns.

“My family is hoping to stay in Hershey until I am done with high school or maybe even until my brother is done with high school,” said Ella Ferns.

Ella Ferns said that her 10-year-old sister, Lucy Ferns, didn’t mind all the moving. “[Lucy] was probably the family member that was least affected by all the moving because she was too young to remember anything,” said Ella Ferns.

Fern has always been an active girl, so she was excited to get back to playing spots and enjoying what she loves most.

When she went back to playing lacrosse, she played very careful at the beginning of the season. “I would get flashbacks to when I hurt myself and that’s what made me play more cautious,” said Ferns.

Currently Ferns has returned to being active again by playing swing for the Hershey High School lacrosse team and cheerleading for the varsity team. She also enjoys swimming and skiing in her free time.

“I don’t think I will ever play like I used to,” said Ferns, “but I am certainly as close as I will be to getting back to normal.”