Kelsea was born and raised in Arcadia, CA, and attended Arcadia public schools all her life. Her first interaction with Arcadia Rotary was when she received the Sixth Grade Student of the Year award at Dana Middle School. While at Arcadia High, Kelsea helped found the Arcadia Civic Youth Council and was an active leader in Speech and Debate, even participating in Rotary’s Four Way Test Speech Contest. After graduating high school, Kelsea attended Yale University and graduated in 2020 with honors in History. After Yale, she went on to pursue a master’s in Socio-Legal Research  at the University of Oxford as a Rotary Global Grant Scholar. Throughout her studies and research, she has been examining how to provide effective legal help for civil litigants unable to afford legal representation. She is a current Richard Zorza Fellow with the Self-Represented Litigation Network and will be attending law school in Fall 2022. 

Kelsey described her experiences at attending Oxford University and career goals.  After graduating from Yale, she attended Oxford in 2020.  Each term at Oxford has a name, so her first term was the Michelmas Term.  Oxford was founded sometime 1096 AD or thereabouts.  It has been the leading academic institute in the United Kingdom.  From 1878, academic halls were established for women and they were admitted to full membership of the University in 1920.  Five all-male colleges first admitted women in 1974 and, since then, all colleges have changed their statutes to admit both women and men.

          One of the traditions at Oxford is wearing an academic gown.  Kelsey admitted than she has only worn the gown twice.

          Kelsey began her first term learning her way around the UK.  She took the train to London and really enjoyed visiting the city.  Highlights being there were High Tea and going into outdoor farmer’s markets.  The produce was farm fresh, but 70% of it comes from outside the UK.

          The next term is designated the Hilary Term, which started  January of 2021 and finished in March. She undertook research into legal aid for people especially by non-lawyers.  It snowed while she was there and she learned how to build a snowman.

          The third term, was the Trinity Term from April to June, 2021. She learned that at Oxford as distinct from American Universities you call your professor by their first name, rather than last.  The Rotarians she met there were friendly and made her feel like it was her home away from home.

          Next, she turned to her research into non-lawyers providing legal advice to clients.  She feels it is important in resolving conflicts from the perspective of assisting clients to achieve what they need and want.  Her research involved creating and regulating non-lawyers and how they can aid needy clients, which resulted in her article in a legal journal on creating and regulating non-lawyers.

          She is planning on attending law school.  She is proud to say that Rotary has helped to shape her world.