With all the hustle and bustle of the season, it’s easy for grownups to forget just how it feels to be a kid opening gifts on Christmas morning – to find that one special thing waiting for you under the tree. These seven College of Charleston professors think back to their childhood Christmas mornings and tell us about their best Christmas gift ever. Their answers are great!
Conseula Francis, Communication
Conseula Francis, English
The best gift I received was a child’s typewriter when I was 5. All I asked Santa for that year was a pencil and paper because I liked to write. He thought a typewriter would be better. He was right.
Morgan Koerner, German and Slavic Studies
Morgan Koerner, German and Slavic Studies
When I was 3 years old, in 1978, I wanted a Star Wars light saber for Christmas. I was living in Grand Isle, La., at the time, a barrier island isolated from the commercial Christmas insanity, and did not know yet who Santa was. So when my parents took me to see him, I was terrified and refused to talk to him. Then, the next day, a disheveled Santa with a Cajun accent came to my day care and I asked him for the light saber. I got a plastic one on Christmas morning, and loved it. To this day, I remain skeptical of North Pole Santa, but am a huge fan of Cajun Santa.
Amanda Ruth-McSwain, Communication
Amanda Ruth-McSwain, Communication
My favorite gift as a child was a real cash register. As a 10-year-old, my career aspiration was to be a cashier. I was so obsessed with this line of work that I set up a grocery store in my playroom, and the only thing I needed to make my store legitimate was a real cash register. I spent hours upon hours working on my grocery store – I would take old food cartons, boxes, cans, bottles, etc., tag them with a price tag and set them up on different aisles (aka cabinet shelves) in our playroom. I was so upset that everything in my store was real except for the cash register, so that Christmas my parents searched high and low for a used cash register (in 1985 this was not an easy thing to find). Although now I know that they had to drive over 350 miles to get it, a beautiful Sharp Cash Register was waiting for me under the tree. My favorite gift ever … and even more special once I knew what my parents did to make a little girl’s cashier dreams come true!
Martin Jones, Mathematics
Martin Jones, Mathematics
I was born in Hazleton, Pa., a small, depressed area in the bituminous coal region near Scranton (Joe Biden’s home). At the time, my dad was working for a company called CAN-DO that was focused on rebuilding the region and attracting manufacturing companies to set up plants there. One of these was a Japanese plant that made plastic shoes (“jellies,” some people call them now). My dad bought us all plastic shoes, and that’s what I had to run around in as a kid. I was probably about 5 at the time. All my friends had Keds or Red Ball Jets, and I desperately wanted a pair. That year at Christmas, my parents got me some Keds, and I was the happiest kid in the world. I took such good care of those sneakers because I thought I’d never get another pair again.
Pam Riggs-Gelasco, Chemistry
Pam Riggs-Gelasco, Chemistry
I would say that it was my first pair of ice skates. I was probably around 10. Growing up in Michigan, the thing to do in winter was skating outside on the frozen ponds. My dad made flooded an area of the backyard for an ice rink for us that year. I don’t recall that working too well.
John Rashford, Sociology and Anthropology
John Rashford, Sociology and Anthropology
One of my favorite holiday presents which I received when I boy was a watercolor set. It really made me think about the color of things around me. Years later, many of the questions I began thinking about were answered by my colleague David Lee, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Florida International University, in his wonderful book: Nature’s Palette: The Science of Plant Color (2007, The University of Chicago Press).
Devon Hanahan, Hispanic Studies
Devon Hanahan, Hispanic Studies
No question: Hands down, it was the pogo stick I got when I was about 7. I had lots of energy to use on it and never tired of it! Not only that, but I was the youngest of seven kids, and the pogo stick was something only I did and something I could excel in amongst my older siblings (pretty sad!). I don’t have one any more, but whenever I see one at someone’s house, I hop on and the years melt away!
