Hi, my name is Chelsea. I'm a junior but suppose to be a senior in high school. Currently I'm 17 years old and will be turning 18 April 26. I was born and raised in a small town in New Hampshire called Enfield. I had a brother named Adam, who was seven years older than me, but had a different dad than me, so he was white and I was mixed. I never actually knew my dad like my brother did, because he wasn't a good guy and spent a majority of his life in jail, and my brother interacted with his dad, which made me jealous later in life. At the beginning of 3rd grade we moved due to school issues and sports that my brother was involved with. We moved the next town over, called Lebanon, New Hampshire. Where my brother attended the local high school, which was rated the top high school in New Hampshire because of their sports and eduacation. And my brother played varsity football and lacrosse there. And then I attended the elementary school.
At the beginning of 5th grade, my mom decided to get me into sports because I was causing too much trouble at home after school. So that year I decided to start soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. After that year passed, I realized that I love sports and I loved every sport that I did, so I ended up doing the same sports again. At the end of 6th grade year, I realized that I had passion for basketball and I wanted to keep playing it in junior high and high school, but I loved playing soccer too, so I used playing soccer to keep in shape for basketball. At the end of basketball season in 6th grade, I got asked to play AAU. I had no idea what it was at first, but it basically meant more basketball in the spring and getting better, which I was up for. So my mom signed me up and everything. Going into try-outs I was nervous, but I knew that I just had to my thing. And I did everything that I could do and ended up making the team with no sweat. And I was happy as I've ever been. We got customized jerseys and I just felt cool walking into tournaments, which felt amazing. After AAU season was over, I knew that I have improved physically and mentally, so I was ready for basketball season by 7&8th grade year. Both years I made the A team, which was the better team. Throughout those two seasons I knew I improved more and more each day. After every basketball season, I got asked to move up an age group in AAU just so I could get better because my coach told me that playing with better people will make you improve as a player and person, so of course I decided to do it. Going into high school I played varsity for Lebanon High School which was so big because the coach already won three titles before I came, and was predicted to win three more with the talent he had coming up. I played one year at Lebanon and ended up winning the NHIAA title and we were the champions. My sophomore year was suppose to be my important year playing there, but my mom found this opportunity to move across the boarder to Vermont, which was only 15 minutes away from where I use to live. It was unique because I ended up playing for his brother at Hartford High School, where the team was just the same of Lebanon and I enjoyed it. That year I got picked to play AAU in Burlington, Vermont which was an hour and half from where I lived away. I played up there twice a week and traveled every weekend to tournaments.
My mom was a single mom raising my brother and I. My brother was seven years older than me so once he got to a certain age, he started helping my mom out more and more. My mom was always working in restaurants and everyone called me a restaurant baby because my mom's water broke while she was working. At first, my mom worked at a restaurant called the truck stop, then from that she went on to working at a private country club and years later she ended up managing the food and beverage part of the country. She was doing that right until I turned 16 years old, before that I had a job there and everything, but as my mom got older and I started to travel more for basketball, the hours were not working for her. So she ended up starting her own business, which was successful right from the start. Since I always grew up in restaurants, I wanted my future in being in the restaurant stage, or something similar to it. But as I grew older and older, and started to work in different kind of restaurants, I decided that I didn't want to do that as a living anymore and go to college for communication and pyschology and hopefully help people out in the future.
My hobbies are basically anything. I play a lot of basketball for the majority of the year, so I consider that as one of my main hobbies. Also, I'm a typical Vermonter so I love being outdoors; going for hikes, walks and runs in the woods. Also, I'm a very big family person and I love spending time with my family, so I consider that as a hobby because whenever I'm home, I try to see as much as them as possible.
My mom always said "dream big" so that's what I always did. I dream about my future basically. My biggest dream is playing basketball at a top college. Being able to feel the thrill, being on TV, playing in front of huge crowds, and going to the championship at least once in my college career. Another thing is to be able to make my momma proud in the long run. Since she was a single mom, and provided a roof over my head for my whole entire life, I want to be able to give back to her more than she gave to me, to tell her that she meant so much to me through the worst moments and the best moments.
