By: Benjamin E. Lykens (Whetstone Staff Writer)
Christine McDermott grew up as the oldest of three siblings – two of whom were a dozen years younger – and became a baby sitter by necessity.
Her parents, who married during their Christmas break during their senior year in high school in Abington, Pa., worked full time after they graduated to support Christine.
McDermott, 36, was born during the summer after her parents married.
McDermott’s dad worked overnights while her mom worked spilt shifts.
“As soon as I came home from school I was watching the girls,†she said.
Today, as the coordinator of disability support services at Wesley College, she helps care for students in the same way she once cared for her siblings.
Her parents weren’t able to go to college, and McDermott, the oldest, said she felt she needed to go to college to succeed. “I felt as if there was a lot of pressure for me to do well,†she said.
McDermott said she uses the drive and determination that she developed as a child to help push her students just like she pushed her siblings to achieve more than they thought possible.
McDermott said she remembers what it’s like to not have what you want. Because of the family’s lack of money, she was never able to do sports unless they were school-related, she was never able to go on family vacations and she was never able to go out to eat.
“You learn to appreciate the finer things in life,†she says.
Now, as the mother of two, her children’s lives are less deprived from hers, but she said she does make sure that her kids appreciate when they get things.
On Christmas her kids get toys but not everything they want because McDermott tells them that other kids need toys, too. “We try to be fair,†she said.
Her five year old son has two sticker charts, one for trying new foods and the other for good behavior. She said she uses these charts to try to establish in her son a sense of earning something rather having things handed to him.
