Watch Out Barbara Walters: Here Comes Deborah

By Erin Gingerich, ENGL 336-001

Probably smiling as she came into the world, Deborah Kelly was born in Baltimore, Maryland on October 5th, 1990. The city girl has resided in Baltimore her whole life; there she developed her passions for singing and writing and set the stage for her current residence in mountainous Frostburg, Maryland.

Growing up the baby of ten siblings, Kelly feels that she’s “a combination of all of [her] siblings.” The age difference between the youngest and oldest is about twenty years. In addition to ten siblings, Kelly has twenty-seven nieces and nephews; two are older than her and one is the same age. Laughing, Kelly recalls that the nephew her age refers to her as “Aunt Dede” with a straight face every time he sees her. Her family has been a big part of her life, especially inspirationally. When asked if her personality or looks resembled her parents, she felt as though she was unique and set apart from her parents. She said, “My mother is someone I would like to be.” Because of her Christian beliefs, Kelly is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes group on campus. In her hometown, she attends Perfect Prayer and Praise Ministries, which is the apostolic denomination; however, Kelly isn’t fond of attaching herself to a particular denomination. She said, “I know that I believe in God, and that’s that.”

Scanning produce and boxed cereal, Kelly worked at Stop Shop Save, a local market, last summer. She talked about a particular theft that she witnessed involving a man sticking tuna fish cans down his shirt in order to take them out of the store. Kelly had better experiences at Parkview Rec, where she worked as a camp aid for two summers. When speaking about trouble-making children, she said sometimes she just wanted to say, “Dang, if you were my child…” When Kelly was younger she actually attended Parkview as a camper, so she was very familiar with the staff working there.

For her secondary education, Kelly attended Edmondson-Westside High School, which was once represented by the Redskins mascot; the school’s mascot is now the Redstorms. Although she participated in softball, Kelly regrets not being a part of the school’s volleyball team. Being five foot eight inches, Kelly was always told that she should join the Redstorms on the basketball team.

Kelly is currently a junior at Frostburg State University; she is majoring in Mass Communication and minoring in Public Relations. Spiral notebooks of unfinished work have piled up over the years, most of which include her on-going work on a play. She said, “I’m writing a play. I won’t let anyone see.” Kelly stays involved on campus through National Broadcasting Society and sets her ambitions high with her major. Kelly recognizes her talents and uses them to push herself to reach her dream of becoming a writer or spokesperson. She said, “I want to write for a magazine, maybe a newspaper. I want to do it all!”




For more information about Edmondson Westside High School, former school of the Redskins’ mascot check out: http://www.baltimorecityschools.org/domain/3877. Or for information about Baltimore’s Stop Shop Save market, follow this link http://oursssave.com/history.aspx.