Everyone who knows Isabella Conley, most often known as Bella, knows that she is a kind-hearted, open minded, human being who grew up in a not-so kind-hearted community. Many wonder how she came to be the person she is, and she herself has given the credit to her parents, stating, “I had my parents who really paved the pathway to a more loving and peaceful community even when living [in a more conservative area].” She is always mentioning how kind her mother is in supporting the LGBTQ+ community and herself, despite her not being “out of the closet” yet. 

Bella originally grew up in a small conservative town with plenty of “small-minded” individuals in Idaho with her siblings and parents but moved to Washington several years ago, a place that seemed to be vastly different from what she was used to. And then the pandemic happened. Her way of coping was diving into video games, primarily Animal Crossing, a game of peaceful villagers and characters, and Red Dead Redemption, a game following cowboys and survival. These games are incredibly important to her, and when asked about them she can go on for ages. 

She plans to attend South Puget Sound Community College in the fall, to pursue a career in social work with children in hopes to better their lives. When asked about her goals for the future, she said, “I hope to just make the world a better place in some small way.”

To further make that point obvious, throughout her senior year, Bella has been a secretary for Capital’s GSA, (Gay Straight Alliance or Gender and Sexuality Alliance), but in reality has been more of a vice president over anything else. One of the biggest challenges she has faced in GSA is trying to motivate the club to participate, as she believes in the club and what the club is capable of. One of her biggest reasons for being a part of the club, she had said, was to make the school a better place.

Bella was asked what being in the club leadership has done for her and she said, “It’s taught me so much compassion for others and to get out of my comfort zone and be much more open about myself.” She was also asked about some of her best experiences in life, and she said, “At Capital High School I would say joining the leadership of GSA and being a part of that but overall I would say going to pride for the first time ever was one of those memories you’ll never forget.”

When asked about her biggest pet peeve, Bella said, “…How much blatant homophobia/racism goes on in CHS that is easily dismissed,” which just shows her awareness of the world. She further went on to say that for students here, to “Be kind. The world we live in is far from a kind world but within these walls, we have so much potential to be good.” Bella is an incredible person through and through and has always strived to be the best person she can be, whether by speaking up about injustices, or just by remembering your birthday, she is truly wonderful to be around.