Kith & Kin of Callaway County: Baylie Borman

Borman
Borman

This column serves as a spotlight, highlighting the everyday people who work and live in Callaway County. The Fulton Sun takes a moment to have a conversation with someone who is not usually featured in the news, but is just as instrumental in making our community the strong and beautiful place we all know and love.

When new students arrive at William Woods University next week for the traditional Ivy Ceremony, senior student Baylie Borman will lead the way.

She is the granddaughter of 1961 graduate Judy (Atkinson) Borman and, as senior class president, is a student leader.

The Ivy Ceremony, which will be at 1:15 p.m. Aug. 17, is an annual fall processional of incoming students marking the start of their college life. When they graduate, as Borman will next spring, the Ivy Ceremony is reversed in a final processional.

Borman, a native Callawegian, planned on going to the University of Missouri, but changed her mind after touring William Woods.

"All my life I was going to go to Mizzou, then I toured there and I was number 5,287," she said, adding she felt lost in the crowd. "I came here - actually, I did three tours - and I loved it."

Borman, 21, grew up in Kingdom City, the daughter of Tim and Kelly Borman. Her father works at The Callaway Bank, where she also had an internship, and her mother is a former North Callaway teacher. Kelly Borman also is a volunteer court-appointed special advocate and has passed the spirit of volunteerism in her daughter.

"I spend a lot of time volunteering," Baylie Borman said, adding she is a member of WWU's Project 123. "We volunteer 123 hours and get a scholarship to travel."

She also likes visiting people in nursing homes.

"My favorite thing is going to the nursing homes and playing board games and talking with them," she said of the patients. "I try to do all my (volunteer) hours there first. A lot of them know my grandparents."

Borman said she is majoring in business administration with a marketing concentration and minoring in graphic design. She also will start working for her master's degree this fall and is planning a trip to Antarctica next year. She said also enjoys pet sitting.

"I enjoy talking to people, so I'd like to go into something like event planning," she said.

Q. What was your first job?

A. I worked at Shryocks corn maze as a cashier, mainly assisting customers. You had to be 16 to work there, so when I turned 16, I was so excited.

Q. Who inspired you?

A. My grandparents in Columbia, Richard and Judith English, because they've just encouraged and supported me with my traveling and sporting events. He was a (psychology) professor at Mizzou for 30 years. He's 80 - almost 81 - and he plays basketball three times a week. My other grandparents are Judy and Harlan Borman; they used to run a dairy farm, Borman dairy farm.

Q. What have you done in life that was most fulfilling?

A. Project 123 - with Project 123, when I put in my hours, I see a direct impact. There's a 15-hour max at each place and I've volunteered at the soup kitchen, the Clothes Cupboard, the Art House and Fulton High School's cross country meets. I've done tutoring at North Callaway after school. At the soup kitchen, I met a family with two little kids. They were so thankful to have that plate of food and it makes me think about how blessed I am. We take things for granted.

Q. What is something you are proud of that you have been recognized for?

A. Being "Outstanding Student" all three years (of college). It's a student-chosen award. It's very humbling to be recognized by my peers.

Q. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt?

A. I'd say teaching because my mom was a teacher.

Q. What profession would you not like to do?

A. Nursing. All my friends are in the nursing field. It's not the blood - it doesn't get me. It's the study. My friends are always complaining about the hours and hours of study.

Q. What is something about you that nobody knows about?

A. I have naturally curly hair, but I wear it straight all the time. I'd like to visit all seven continents; I've only been to Africa, North America and South America.

Q. What is your favorite thing about Callaway County?

A. I love the small towns. Mostly everyone is friendly and go out of their way to say hi. I love how there's crops and farming everywhere. And everyone's always there to help.