User:Kelly87

Who am I? That is a great question that until now I couldn’t truly and completely answer. Eighteen years ago, I was born a healthy baby girl in New York City at Saint Vincent’s Hospital. My two wonderful parents, Katherine Cleo Davidson and William Ronald Powell, dubbed me Kelly Lynne Powell. Within a month my parents decided to move to Winter Haven, Florida, leaving their amazing music careers behind. I was raised in Winter Haven, just like five generations before me. At the age of two, my parents popped out another baby, my little brother, Jeffrey Michael. I attended pre-school where I made friends that I cherish unto this day. During my years in elementary school, I discovered my inherited love for music and my learned love for education. Also, during this time, my baby sister was born, Jennifer Kristin. I began to sing at a very young age and started to play the viola in the fifth grade.

Around the age of eleven, my parents got a divorce. That crushed me. I remember running into my room and crying for hours. You see, when I was younger, I would have nightmares that my parents were going to get divorced. They would always come to my room and console me and reassure me that it would never happen. But, alas, it happened, and I think that subconsciously I knew all along that it would come down to it. My parents fought, what seemed to be all the time. Because of the divorce, I was forced to grow up faster than I wanted to. I was the one holding my family together because my siblings couldn’t possibly comprehend what divorce meant and that our father would not be living with us anymore. That changed my life. However, I can now look back and realize that it was for the best. Though it seemed my life would only get worse, it actually got better. My parents are now friends and can actually have a civilized conversation. My father got remarried about four years ago, but my mother never has and probably never will.

Although I had attended First Presbyterian Church since I was a baby, I began my true faith journey in middle school where I built a strong faith foundation. It began with my first trip to Great Escape, where about a thousand middle schoolers gather to praise God. The experience was life changing and for two years after that I continued to enjoy everything about it, from the 16 hour van ride to the nights of spilling our hearts out to the close friends or just the person standing next to you. Finally, in high school, there was Montreat, the thing that every youngster at First Pres looks forward to. I couldn’t wait for my first trip, and like every one after, it was an amazing experience. It is a secluded mountainous place where I truly learned to live a life with God in everyday. I also became closer to the friends that I had grown up with.

Also, in high school, I decided to stray from the beaten path and, unlike my other friends, I went to a high school about 30 miles away. It was called the Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. It was there that my love for classical music blossomed. After a rigorous audition, I was accepted to the orchestra and chorus. I decided to play the viola in the orchestra. I don’t think that I could have asked for a better experience. I got to play some of the most amazing pieces of music; I could never get enough. By the time I was a senior, I was principle violist and had met many new friends that held the same interests as me.

Honduras is a third world country in central America, where one summer, I volunteered for 10 days. There I learned a lesson that has since changed my life. This adventure taught me to be thankful for everything I have, and live every day as it was my last. I met many Hondurans who have nothing and yet they are the happiest people I have ever met. They were so grateful for the simple things we gave them. We brought Polaroid cameras with us and took pictures of the children in one of the fishing villages. Before that day, they had never seen a picture of themselves. One of the girls followed me around the village and held my hand all day. It was so touching to see the faces of the children and their parents. I also took a special visit to the hospital in Tegucigalpa, the largest city in Honduras. I fell down a flight of marble stairs and displaced my tail bone. I am so thankful for the journey that taught me to love every moment of my life.

During my senior year of high school, I met a boy named Matthew who had a crush on me since our junior year. We went on our first date and we ended up spending almost five hours together. We began dating and soon found that we had tons of fun together and loved spending all our spare time together. I loved him and he was the first to show me how I deserved to be treated. We shared a special bond that lasted eleven months and in August we decided to end it. Matthew changed my life and I still care about him immensely.

I graduated from high school in 2005, fourteenth in my class, with a grade point average of 4.3. I walked across that stage and closed a crucial chapter in my life. It was now time for me to venture out into the world on my own. Earlier in the year, I got accepted to the University of Florida. In June, I packed my stuff and left the house I had practically grown up in. Attending the University of Florida was not always my dream, I once dreamed of attending Manhattan Arts School for vocal and viola performance. I still wish I had pursued that goal, but for now, I am very content at UF. I am now pursuing a degree in Chemistry and then I will hopefully be fulfilling my other life long dream of becoming a doctor.

Today, I am in my second semester here and I am loving it. I miss my family and friends more than I ever imagined. I live in a one bedroom apartment, and besides the money I get ever once in a while, I am self-sufficient. In doing this, I have learned a new appreciation for money. Currently, I work at the University of Florida about thirty hours a week to afford all my expenses. Recently, my family has practically fallen apart. My brother got caught up in the wrong crowd. My parents had to withdraw him from his current school and enroll him into a school where my step-mother is the dean of students and can keep an eye on him. During this time, my brother proclaimed his hatred and disgust for this. This tore me up inside, because, although I know better, I feel responsible for this. Things are better now, but my brother and father’s relationship still has a long way to go. These last months have led to emotions and pain I didn’t know I could feel. However, I realize that I no longer am the glue that binds my family together.

In order to better understand my life, it might be helpful to know a but about the generations previous. On my mother’s side, my great great grandmother’s maiden name is Devol, her family originates in France. They left France because they were persecuted for their religious beliefs. They were Huguenots, French Protestants who were members of the Reformed Church which was established in 1550 by John Calvin. After leaving France, they lived I England for approximately two generations. In England, they were also persecuted for their beliefs and decided that they would try their luck in America. For a couple of years, they lived in Jamestown and then moved out west to Ohio where they founded the city of Marietta. In 1904, my great great grandparents and my great grandmother moved to Winter Haven, FL. That is where they have lived ever since. Also, my great great grandmother married into the Gates family, which is English and can be traced back to King Henry VIII. Not much is known about my great grandfather's side of the family, their last name is Starnes and we believe that they have a Welsh background and came to the States around the same time as Oglethorpe.

Concerning my mother's father's side of the family, their last name is Davidson and our clan was once the richest clan in Scotland and the family is still flourishing. We were known as the 'black Scotts' because of our extremely dark skin. Although my grandfahter is unsure of how or why his family came to America, he speculates it was because of famine or lack of work. Once in the United States, they moved to North Carolina. About two generations before my grandfather, his family moved to Minnerhill, TN where they made a living farming. Within Tennessee, there is a county and college named after the Davidson clan. Tuberculosis hit Minnerhill and only three of my grandfather's family survived, my great grandfather and his sister and brother. Each child went their separate ways. My great grandfather ended up in Drew, MI, where my grandfather was born, here they also made a living farming the land. When the depression struck, they moved to Miami and then after that to Winter Haven, where they too have lived ever since.

My grandparents met married here in Winter Haven, they had four children, my Uncles John and David, my mother, and my Aunt Virginia. My grandfather began his career in optometry with his own practice and my grandmother began spreading the joys of music around the county, beginning at the high school and then at the community college.

On my father's side of the family, not much is known about or ancestors. We are believed to be of English decent on both my grandmother and grandfather's sides of the family. My grandmother's maiden name is Bradshaw and my grandfather's name is Powell. My grandmother's mother's maiden name was Loynds which can be traced back to some German ancestry. Both of my father's parents were born and raised in Pennsylvania, my grandmother in Chester and my grandfather in Media. They met and married in Pennsylvania, where they had their three boys, my Uncle Tim, my father, and my Uncle Kevin. In 1960, they moved to Davie, FL because my dad had severe allergies to the pollen and thing in PA. After seven months in Davie, they bought a house in Fort Lauderdale.

My parents met at Florida State where they were both persuing degrees in music. They fell in love and decided to get married in 1978, then in the fall of that year, they moved to New York City to began their music careers. They traveled around the world with many famous singing groups. And then almost eleven years later, they gave it all up for me.