Growing Up

I believe that your family can change your view on life. My family is everything, I would put them before anything instantly. Growing up with eight brothers and being the only girl was hard. Sharing the bathroom with them was the worst because either I had to spray a ton of febreze around and suffer the consequences when you walk through the door or wait 45 minutes for it to be free. But they're the ones that always had my back through the good times and bad. Emotionally my brothers made me strong they picked on me and yelled at me when I didn't listen, and physically to deal with the things that brothers do; put me in headlocks, grab me by one leg and hold me upside down, sit on me until I can't breath, or pin me down so another brother can do something to me. Growing up with my family had positive outcomes and bad outcomes, but each thing had a learning experience and made me become the girl I am today. Every day at least, I created a fight or argument with each brother which ended up in me crying or just getting physical fight and having another brother or my mom coming to break us up. Once I got older, it wasn't all about fighting anymore, it was mostly about making me emotionally and mentally strong for the real world today.

Each brother had a huge impact on my life whether it's beating me up to learn my lesson or watching out for me and giving me tip on how to live life and the future, but my parents made the most impact on me. They're the ones that made me who I am. My dad and my mom got divorced right after my younger brother was born, then my dad shortly after died due to liver failure. Since my mom had to do both duties now, she struggled, but it didn't stop her from attending sport events or giving up whatever we needed. My mom has been there for me through thick and thin, tears of anger and tears of joy, even during my brat moments and during my sweetheart moments, and no matter what I do she will always love me. I look up to my mom the most, because ever since she and my dad got a divorce, she has just been focusing on her kids and the restaurants and making sure that we live unforgettable lives. She always supports me no matter how much I make her mad, but she tells me "no teenager can be perfect."

The one day that I was getting along with my older brother, Daniel, he taught me the most, not physically but emotionally and how I should grow up being a respectful young lady. One day he said, "you shouldn't let anyone come between my family and you because it's the strongest bond that you will ever have with anyone. As a young mixed lady you should always be respectful and have a positive outlook with everything that goes into you and out of you. You should also have respect for your body, keep it in shape and don't give it up to anyone you have no respect for. You should always keep your body sacred until you meet that one person that you will soon marry." My older brother inspires me the most because out of every one of my brothers, right now, he inspires me because of his success, personality, and outlook towards and in his life. He's the one who went to college for sports, focused on what he did best, then after college found his first love and is now marrying her this summer. He inspires me to focus on myself, focus on what I do best, and graduate high school, then soon after, college. Then after college focus on everything else that involves me succeeding in life.

I have so many physical stories that I could go on for days about, but there's one that will always stick in my head, and when I get physically weak, I just think about this story. My second youngest brother, Kyren plays college football for Texas A&M. Including that scholarship he had over 30 D1 offers for football, basketball, and track and field, but he chose football because it keeps you in shape both physically and mentally, especially playing for a high D1 college. Before he went to college, he wasn't physically ready which lead him to not be emotionally ready. As soon as he got recruited, his coach told him he had to get physically and mentally tough in a matter of months, which he knew that he couldn't do, he decided to go to prep school closer to Texas A&M to make sure he was ready for what he had coming. Whenever he comes home, which is very rare, he tells me everything, all the stories, good and bad, and tells me how I could deal with it if I ever come across a coach like his. He always comes home with different stories about his college coach, good and bad. As a college coach you’re supposed to be mean, but his college coach takes it beyond meanness, he yells all the time and when he’s yelling breaks objects against anything that’s close to him. The worst part is that one day, he treats you like the best player on the field and his best friend, but then the next day you're his worst enemy. My brother said that, that was the worst thing to get used too, but as you get older, you just get use to the fact. Kyren’s stories almost make me feel like I don't want to ever play college sports but he says, "if you're in good shape, that one less thing you gotta worry about." Kyren telling me all these stories just motivate me into being in physical shape so I don't have to worry about it in college or the years after college.

A quote from the 1 Peters 4:8 states, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” This quotes describes my family perfectly because they might be rough all the time, but in the long run they will always be by my side and have my back.

Blind Side Monologue Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qU0mg-cMtA
(Copy and Paste to watch!)


When trying to find this monologue, I knew that I was trying to find something that was meaningful to not only me, but everyone else. When I saw the Blind Side come up, I knew that I had to do something from the movie, because as a teenager, that is by far the most inspirational movie and had an impact on my personality towards sports and adults as a teenager. Finding a quote that was in the Blind Side wasn't hard, the only hard part was trying to find which one to choose because they all have a special meaning to them, from playing on the field to connecting as a family on and off the field.

I chose this monologue on courage and honor, because to me that was the best one towards teenagers and how life should be lived as a teenager. When reading it over, Michael said it perfectly even though his English wasn't the best. He stated that everyone should have courage and honor in their hearts and if they do, then that's pretty good. Even though his speech isn't perfect English, deep down, that should mean something to teenagers. I aim this mainly towards teenagers because as a teenager, I sometimes lack those aspects in life, and to be able to succeed in life, you should aways have those aspects in your life, no matter how rough it is.

While rehearsing this, memorizing it was tricky as it got to the end, so it took longer than expected. The beginning was easy to memorize, because I felt like it repeated itself, so I just had to remember what came next and after. Towards the end it was hard to memorize because I felt like he just put random stuff together to get it all in, and plus his English wasn't too good, so I had to change his words around and put in words that weren't included.

Blind Side Quote

"Courage is a hard thing to figure. You can have courage based on a dumb idea or mistake, but you're not suppose to question adults, or your coach or your teacher, because they all make the rules. Maybe they know best, but maybe they don't. It all depends on who you are, where you come from. Didn't at least one of the six hundred guys think about giving up, and joining the other side? I mean, the valley of the death that's pretty salty stuff. That's why courage is tricky. Should you always do what others tell you to do. Sometimes you might not even know why you're doing something. I mean any fool can have courage . But honor, that's the real reason for you either do something or you don't. It's who you are and maybe who you want to be. If you die trying for something important, then you have both honor and courage, and that's pretty good."

My Life, My Future, My Goals, and My Hobbies.

This blog post is all about me. What I like to do, my personality, my hobbies, my dreams, and what I plan on doing in my future life.

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.