ABOUT ME CHELSIE

I am Chelsie Kay Folden, Miss Ohio Teen USA 2008! I am very thankful, and excited to have this opportunity to represent the state of Ohio. I am 16 years old, and a Sophomore at Wellston High School. I absolutely love sports and being an active person, whether it's playing softball, cheering on the sidelines at football games with my friends, or helping out in my community with our peewee sports program! I love children, and one of my goals is to try and help out the younger generation as much as I can. They are the future, and they need to have more opportunities. I want to be know as someone who can help out a little with their up-coming lives. I enjoy it so much, and I hope I have impacted their lives in at least one way. I am very close to the kids that I work with and I love them very much. I hope to keep doing what I am doing now, and maybe coach our cheerleading squad in the near future. Currently, I'm a Varsity Cheerleader, a Varsity Softball Player, a Varsity Crosscountry Runner, I Power Tumble, and I'm on my High School Cheerleading Competion team. Im an FCCLA member, which is a Family Career and Community Leader of America. I introduce to students and people in our community the effects of drugs and alcohol. I have helped with project Christmas Child within our school, and worked on in-school projects with students. I've went to FCCLA conventions, and we sign up for workshops that are a lot of fun! My favorite workshop that I have been to was the Line Dancing Workshop this past year. I had so much fun, that I got up in front of the entire class and danced by myself!( I loved to DANCE!) This year, my theme of my project at the convention was: "Raise it A Degree, and Be Drug Free." My project recieved 3rd place out of 6 different schools in my area. I have also helped out with Blood-Drives at my high school for two years now. As for softball, I started playing when I was 5 years old, and also played on older traveling teams. I was on my Jr. High team for 2 years, and last year as a freshman, I started off playing Jr. Varsity. My Jr. Varsity Team had a record of 18-1!!!!!(18 WINS, and only 1 loss) As the year progressed, I was asked to play on the Varsity Team as well. One of the tournements I went to, our team was down 1 run, and it was my turn to bat and we had runners on 1st & 2nd, and all the pressure was on me. I stepped to the plate, and the pitch was thrown. I hit the ball and it was GONE!!!!! I hit my very first HOMERUN (out of the park) and we won the game. This was one of the best days of my life! I will NEVER forget this day! It changed my life!... I am the only freshman in my high schools history to ever hit a "REAL" Homerun!!!!!! (Out of the Park) ;-) Softball is my all time favorite sport to play! If I couldn't play every year, I know I would be devastated! Cheerleading: I have cheered for 7 years. I was in the Little "W" Football Program for 2 years, and also a Jr. High Cheerleader. I just recently tried out for the high school squad, and I made the Varsity Squad. I am a 3 year Varsity Cheerleader, and I hope to be a Varsity Cheerleader my Senior Year. I'm on our Competition Squad, too. My squad and I have went to Nationals in Virginia, and we placed as 1st runners-up! We have competed many times, and I have recieved special awards. I won the "Outstanding Cheerleader Award" 3 years in a row, twice in Jr. High, and once in High School. As a Power Tumbler, I started when I was 5 years old. At the age of 7, I went to my first Jr. Olympics, and I was ranked 3rd in the entire NATION!!!... I have recieved 3 first place rankings in the State, and 3 bronze medals at Jr. Olympics. I don't compete anymore, but I still go to the gym and tumble on a regular basis for fun! I enjoy it a lot, and it was what gave me the confidence I have today to become the strong individual that I am now! Crosscountry: I started running when I was in the 7th grade on the Jr. High team. My very first race I place 3rd out of 98 girls! I was the happiest little girl ever! I never dreamed that I would do that well in my first race! In 8th grade, I was First Team All TVC, and my freshman year I was also First Team All TVC. As a freshman, I placed 3rd in the Districts and went on to Regionals and fell in the race. I still placed 34th, but I was disappointed a little because I worked so hard to try and make the top 16. If I would have placed in the top 16, then I could have went on to State. This year, I trained all summer long. The first day of school I tore my ACL in Cheerleading practice. This ruined my entire season of fall and winter sports. I have been working really hard to get my body and knee back into shape for my up-coming year as a Junior. I think about it this way, if it wasn't for my knee being hurt, I would have never tried out for the State Pageant. Winning the pageant made up for everything that happened to me this past year. I'm a lot of fun to be around, and I always make my friends and family laugh! After High school, I hope to go on to college and major in Crime Scene Investigation. I'm really interested in figuring out difficult situations, and studying crime scenes.
I love my parents, my sister, grandparents & my family very much!!!!!