McCollum has done so well with her life that she inspired officials of a local foundation to start a scholarship - and McCollum is its first recipient.
On Tuesday, she received a $10,000 scholarship for student athletes who have lost their mothers to cancer. The award is the first made by a foundation named for Kelly Rooney, a mother of five from Wayne who died in 2006 at age 43 of breast cancer.
The idea for the scholarship started with Erin Dugery, Rooney's sister, after she read about McCollum in a local newspaper.
"I just couldn't believe that this kid was waking up every day without parents in the house and was independent," she said. "And then I thought about Kelly. My sister would have done something for Katie."
The scholarship was presented to McCollum on the athletic field where she plays softball and is cocaptain of the team. The award was a surprise, and she was poised and succinct in her remarks.
"I want to thank everyone at the Kelly Rooney Foundation," McCollum said. "It's a great honor, and I know my mom would be proud of me."
In 2009, McCollum petitioned a court to live on her own after her father died and she stayed with her grandmother for a month. McCollum thought living independently would be easier.
"I knew I was ready to grow up," McCollum said. "My brother and I liked the idea of staying together and figuring it out on our own."
McCollum resides in a Newtown Square apartment with her brother Joe, a student at St. Joseph's University. Last year, she lived alone while he was at school.
"She's gotten health care, arranges all the doctors' appointments, gets to school on time every day, has gotten her driver's license," said Lisa D'Orazio, McCollum's softball coach. "She's done quite a bit."
McCollum has taken what she has learned and serves as a mother hen to her teammates, D'Orazio said.
