Personal Statement

My name is Chelsey Chao and both of my parents immigrated to America to give me a

better life and chance of education. Both of my parents have very little education. My mother

has no education , but my father had a high school diploma . Ever since I was a little girl my

mom was the one that pushed school on me the hardest because she wanted me to have a

better life than she had . Since I can remember growing up my father was a substance abuser

and my mother was an unemployed farm worker. Ever since I could remember I was always

independent and self taught, I would come home after school and clean the house and make

myself dinner and take care of the household chores while my father was out drunk or under the

influence of something. My mother was constantly at her farm and trying to help us make ends

meet , selling her animals and vegetables to help pay rent. I hated how I lived , I wished that I

had more than just living off SSI money , But 6 year old me Never understood until my mom sat

me down one day and asked me how to help her make money orders and how to help her sign

papers . Although my dad had an education and he could read English he was a dead beat so

my mom relied on me to help her . At the age of 8 I was helping my mom fill out paperwork ,

helping her translate to pay rent. I never knew I needed this skill later on in life, but this taught

me how to handle my finances . Now my “dad” I say dad in quotation marks because he really

wasn’t a dad . He was just a stranger That I called dad , he just came home some nights and

acted like he loved me here and there .

A challenge I faced was being a victim of Abuse and Molestation , One night My father took

me to his friends house on a school night and they played poker and night time was falling so I

was asleep on the couch just waiting for my dad to take me home , I suddenly woke up to my

dads friend touching me . I didn’t realize this until I was fully awake . I remember waking up my

dad in a panic and I said “ daddy I want to go home”. I was in tears , he told me to wait until the

morning but I told him if we didn’t go home I would walk home and then he shot up and we went
home . I didn’t understand the situation until a year later. No one understands that your mind

takes a long time to process things until it’s time . I went through years of therapy to help me

wash that time out of my mind , but I soon came over it 4 years later . The steps I took to come

over this was to accept help , and let people in on my troubles , and trust the process . I think

I’m a strong candidate for admission to the University of California Because I am reliable ,

resilient , and determined . The challenges that I have been through have taught me that all

good things come with time and effort; you just have to push yourself to your full potential and

believe . With this possible Admission I would fulfill my dreams of becoming a nurse and

Attending a CSU at Sonoma State University .

During these challenges in these last few years I have developed a skill set that can help me

both In my future career, and with me personally. I Picked up a coping skill of cosmetology. I

believe that cosmetology helps with patience. It shows you the long process of trust to get

where you want things to be , while picking up on how to do makeup and different techniques. It

helps me think outside of the box when it comes to helping out with patients , Like improvising .

Both of these skill sets that I am passionate about help others in need both mentally and

physically. I took cosmology as a passion because I used to struggle with self confidence , I was

very insecure about myself and I would wake up at 5am every morning to do my makeup and I

just felt like I couldn’t be seen without it . After years and years of being so insecure I started to

learn to love myself and I wanted to help others make them feel more confident in themselves ,

Getting to see the smiles on their faces after their makeup is done brightens my day knowing

that I can help them even just a little bit , I’ve been doing makeup on the side for about a year

now and especially on prom nights I love making people feel beautiful on a special night .