Chelsea Parker is in some ways a typical 18-year-old high school senior. She prefers cheeseburgers to pot-roast and enjoys wearing the latest trendy clothing and hairstyles. She is looking forward to her upcoming high school graduation and is nervous about going to college.

Most similarities end there. Chelsea has grown up in the world of CPS (Children’s Protective Services) and knows the ins and outs of the state childcare system. She has been a part of the "system" for most of her life. Her parents divorced when she was young and her mother re-married, to a man who owned a bar.

"My mom was always at the bar with him, and my older sister and I had to take care of ourselves, beginning when I was four," Chelsea shares. "I remember when they were home – they were always fighting. My older sister, who was only six years old, would drag me into a corner and lay on top of me, so that we wouldn’t get hit, or have to hear what they were saying to each other."

She remembers moving, "at least twenty times, maybe more", missing school and failing to make or maintain meaningful relationships as a young girl. "It’s hard to bond with someone when you aren’t there long enough to get to know them," says Chelsea.

Getting time to know the same people for an extended period of time would finally happen for Chelsea. She came to live at the Ranch three years ago, as a withdrawn and often combative fifteen year old, hardened by life and people who had disappointed her time after time. She had already lived in many placements.

CPS began investigating her home life when she was six. She was removed from her home and sent to live with relatives, then put in various facilities and foster homes – for "as long as she can remember." She speaks candidly of some of the places she lived before coming to live at HCYR.

"One was a foster home in San Antonio with a single woman who already had children of her own. She also had three foster children; I was the oldest. It was a horrible place. She abused us and I was getting hit more than I ever did in my house. I didn’t see the point in any of us even being in foster care, when we were being treated worse than we ever had been before. I complained to teachers at school, my caseworker, anyone who would listen. As punishment for telling on her, one night the foster mother cut off all of my hair. But, that didn’t stop me from telling on her. It just made me tell more people. I was afraid of what she might do to the younger kids in her house.

"Finally," confides Chelsea, "the police and CPS started investigating her. Her foster home was shut down, and she can never have foster children again."

Chelsea shared this story with tears in her eyes, remembering the horrid conditions, but also with a smile on her face, proud of herself for stopping the woman from hurting any more children.

This is the Chelsea we have come to know. A paradox, she sometimes seems fragile, but is also outgoing and never afraid to speak her mind. She can come across as stubborn and argumentative, but is deeply compassionate and concerned about others.

What Chelsea values most in life is justice. Because she has fought for it, she understands that justice comes with a price – the price of struggle and a willingness to have one’s motives questioned.

Chelsea plans to go into the criminal justice field, either as an attorney or as a forensic criminologist. "The thought of murderers and child molesters walking around on the streets makes me sick, and I want to do something about it. I want to put them away," she says with a passion that is as fierce as it is convincing.

Chelsea shared with me some of the things she would like to change in the legal system. "The first thing I would do," she says, "is re-vamp the custody system. I was raised at the mercy of child support. My real dad used to say that he wanted me to live with him. So, I’d move in with him, only to learn that he just didn’t want to give money to my mother. Then, my mom would claim that she wanted me back, but I saw she just wanted the checks my dad had to send. Neither of them wanted me living with them, but as long as child support was an issue, they pretended to.

"It should not be that way. God gives people children so that they will learn to care for them and appreciate them. But, some people just don’t get it. I hate to see children mistreated . . . any child. That isn’t how God planned it."

Chelsea credits HCYR librarian Marcy Dorman with teaching her an important spiritual principle. "God didn’t need to give us ten commandments. He really only had to give us one – ‘Love one another, just as I have loved you’. But, we are dumb and stubborn, so he had to break it down into individual rules, hoping we could follow them better. If we are all a part of God’s body, why aren’t we trying harder to help each other up? We spend so much time knocking each other down. It is really sad."

Chelsea’s faith is so strong that, during a recent movie she was watching, she was offended by the movie’s suggestion that Jesus did not rise from the dead. Greatly exasperated, Chelsea walked out and later explained, "That was blasphemy, and I wasn’t going to waste my time watching it."

Gently raking her fingers through a miniature sand garden, Chelsea calmed and began to talk of things that she was pleased about. "Coming to live at the Hill Country Youth Ranch was the best thing that has ever happened to me. After all of the horrible placements I had been in, this was the first place that actually felt like a home. Even though it is a large organization, it doesn’t feel like one. Mr. Priour goes out of his way to let the kids know that this is our home. We have our say in decisions that get made, and he makes sure that we feel an ownership in our own houses, on our Ranch. No one had ever made me feel like that before."

Chelsea also talks about her admiration for other staff members and the girls she shares life with. "I love Carol (Priour). She is sweet and also makes us all feel important. Marcy is a wonderful person. She listens to me and doesn’t treat me like a kid. I know that when I talk to her, she really cares about what I have to say. I love the girls in my cabin. Heather is the best friend ever, and Farrah is like a little sister to me. That is what makes this place different from any of the other placements I have been in before. They really care for you here, and want this Ranch to be the best place it can be for the people it’s supposed to be for – the kids. Not too many places can say they do that."

Staff members reciprocate the feelings of admiration for Chelsea. Marcy Dorman has shared a lot of time with Chelsea over the past three years and says, "Chelsea is one of those young people who I can’t wait to see in five or ten years. I have no doubt that one day in the not so distant future, we will be reading about her, and maybe casting our votes for her. She is determined to enter the world of criminal justice, and I can’t think of anyone more effective for the task."

Marcy is not the only one who has confidence in Chelsea’s future. Recently, Chelsea was nominated by her Criminal Justice teacher at Ingram Tom Moore High to attend a weeklong Forum on Law, held in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1992, the National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF) is an organization established to prepare extraordinary young people for professional careers.

While there, Chelsea will witness Supreme Court proceedings, meet national leaders, visit the White House, participate in mock trials and learn more about the process of law making. Chelsea’s trip is February 6 – 13, and she is both excited and nervous.

"The biggest thing I hope to gain from the trip is a better understanding about what I want to do with my life. I know that I want to be a part of the legal field. There are just so many different opportunities. I have always wanted to be an attorney, but I also want to have a more hands-on experience, actually solving crimes and capturing the criminals.

"Also, I’ve thought about becoming an attorney ad litem for children in state’s care. It’s very hard to know where to place a child who doesn’t have a place to call home. I think that is why they get it wrong so many times. No one knows what it is like to be a ward of the state unless you truly have been one. I don’t blame my caseworker for putting me in bad placements in the past – she just didn’t know. I was in emergency shelters and on suicide watch at other places. I didn’t need that. I only needed a home, the kind I found when I came to live here. I want to help other children find that, any way that I can."